Aboriginal community gathers outside Alice Springs hospital demanding 'payback' following arrest of murder suspect
Approximately 400 people threw projectiles at officers and paramedics while chanting for the killing of Jefferson Lewis, who faces expected charges in the coming days.
Violence erupted outside a hospital in Alice Springs on Thursday night after Jefferson Lewis, a man suspected of murdering five-year-old Kumanjayi Little Baby, was arrested and taken into custody. The unrest occurred as Lewis was being treated at the facility, drawing a crowd of approximately 400 Aboriginal people who gathered to demand 'payback' against the suspect.
The term 'payback' refers to traditional punishment under Aboriginal law in Central Australia. During the disturbance, the crowd chanted that Lewis should be killed for his alleged attack on the child and accused police of protecting him. Video footage from the scene shows individuals throwing projectiles toward officers, resulting in damaged police vehicles.
Northern Territory Police Commissioner Martin Dole stated that the situation escalated when about 200 people turned on police and paramedics responding to reports of Lewis being assaulted. The Commissioner described the scenes as 'not acceptable' and noted they were not reflective of the community's behaviour over the preceding five days.
To disperse the crowd, police deployed tear gas, an action that resulted in injuries to several people, including members of emergency services. While the scale of the disorder and the damage to property are significant, no arrests have been made regarding the violent events themselves.
Lewis was arrested late on Thursday night and subsequently flown from Alice Springs to Darwin, where he is currently in police custody. Authorities expect formal charges to be laid against him in the coming days, though the specific nature of those charges has not yet been formally announced.
Forensic tests to confirm the young girl's identity and the cause of death are scheduled to continue on Friday. Lewis had been released from prison six days before the child disappeared, a timeline that has intensified the scrutiny surrounding the investigation.
The girl's mother issued a statement expressing her grief and thanked the volunteers and police who searched Old Timers Camp, a government-designated site for Aboriginal people. She noted that using the name of a deceased person breaches cultural protocols in many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, which prohibit broadcasting their image or voice without family permission.
