Locals in Alice Springs have revealed that the large crowd of angry rioters who attacked a man suspected of abducting and murdering a five-year-old girl were motivated by an ancient Indigenous 'payback' custom. Confirmed murder suspect Jefferson Lewis, 47, was airlifted to Darwin on Friday morning after being set upon by an angry crowd about 10pm on Thursday.
Terrifying footage from Alice Springs showed armed police using tear gas and rubber bullets to deter locals demanding 'mob justice' over the young girl's death. Lewis is understood to have been beaten 'within an inch of his life' by the vigilantes before police officers intervened and took him to Alice Springs Hospital. A 400-strong crowd gathered outside, with a police car set ablaze and a Shell service station completely destroyed. Five emergency workers were injured in the chaos.
Concerns have been raised that Lewis's family members could be targeted by locals who refuse to abide by 'white man law'. An Alice Springs resident explained that both Lewis and the little girl—whose family has asked to be referred to as Kumanjayi Little Baby—are Warlpiri people. 'The Warlpiri mob... when they go off they go off,' he told news.com.au. 'You have a thing called payback, so now they can't get to him they go for the other family members. This won't stop.'
The Warlpiri people are the traditional owners of the Tanami Desert, which stretches for 184,500 square kilometres north-west of Alice Springs. Lewis is suspected of taking Kumanjayi Little Baby from a house at Old Timers Camp, 6km south of Alice Springs, where he was staying five days ago. A local told the Daily Mail that a group of vigilantes beat Lewis after spotting him lying low at Charles Creek Camp, located near the centre of town.
'A group of young boys saw him walking down the street and they noticed him as the man on the news,' the local said. 'They ran up to him and started beating him viciously. He was trying to get under a shipping container; he might have been sleeping there or just trying to get away from the mob. He has been beaten badly and is in a bad way. But this won't be enough, people want tribal punishment and want to keep going.'
Lewis is understood to be out of hospital and under police custody in Darwin. It comes as Indigenous elder Warren Mundine shared a blunt message with the vigilante rioters, warning against the use of 'tribal punishment'. 'All that does is create a situation where you hit my cousin or my brother and then I've got a right to hit your cousin, I've got a right to do this and that,' he told news.com.au. Mr Mundine called for calm, saying every Australian had the right to a fair trial. 'And it's only the person who has committed the crime who is punished, we do not go around punishing family, because otherwise you get into an internal brawl that goes on for generations, and that has got to stop,' he said.
The Northern Territory Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro said alcohol sales in the city will be paused today in an attempt to quell the violence. This comes as Kumanjayi Little Baby's family released a statement via elder Robin Granites—the child's grandfather—who pleaded with the Indigenous community to allow justice to take its course. 'Everyone is feeling upset and emotions are high,' he said. 'I understand that what happened this week is not our way. Our children are precious. Of course we are feeling angry and hurt. This man has been caught thanks to community action, and we must allow justice to take its course. If you need to come (to Alice Springs) for sorry business, that's fine, but just come for that and return home. Please. Now is not the time to be heroes on social media or to make trouble.'
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has also joined calls for calm, saying now was the time for the community to come together following the unrest.
