2004 Redfern riots

Fireworks being shot at police during the riot

The 2004 Redfern riots took place on the evening of Saturday 14th February 2004, in the inner Sydney suburb of Redfern, New South Wales, sparked by the death of a young man named Thomas Hickey.

Thomas Hickey's death

The circumstances surrounding Thomas 'T.J.' Hickey's death are disputed. On the morning of Saturday 14 February 2004, the 17-year-old Indigenous Australian was riding his bicycle down hill as a police vehicle was patrolling the nearby area. According to police, he collided with a protruding gutter and was flung into the air and impaled in a 2.5-metre high fence outside a block of units off Phillip street, Waterloo, causing penetrating injuries of the neck and chest.^[1] Police officers at the scene administered first aid until NSW Ambulance officers arrived. The "Australian First Aid" manual requires the instrument of penetration to remain in place after the injury has occurred, as removal of a penetrating instrument usually causes catastrophic bleeding. The police removed TJ Hickey's body from where it was impaled on the fence before the ambulance arrived. This is not Australian First Aid practice. Hickey was transported from the scene to the Sydney Children's Hospital in a critical but stable condition. He died with his family by his side on 15 February due to the severity of his wounds.

A large proportion of the inquest centred on whether police were "pursuing" Mr Hickey , or "following" him. At the conclusion of the inquest, Ken Moroney was interviewed on ABC radio and gave this explanation of the distinction: " I think if you were to ask the person on the street the definition between, and not a Concise Oxford Dictionary definition, but if you were to ask somebody their interpretation of being followed and being pursued I think they are two distinct and clear actions. Being followed, I think, in the ordinary layman's mind, creates a particular picture. Being pursued by police creates a completely different picture and clearly there was no evidence that Mr Hickey was being pursued in the normal definition of that word."

Ken Moroney supported the driver of the police car, Hollingsworth, in his refusal to give evidence. Both maintained this was a "civilian right". Freedom Socialist Bulletin, by Ray Jackson: ABC Radio PM Tuesday 17 August

According to police, they arrived at the scene quickly, because they drove their car into the public park after Mr Hickey. in but were unable to save him as "the injury was probably non-survivable."^[1] There was an outstanding arrest warrant in his name, but police have consistently maintained that the patrol car was searching for a different individual, wanted in connection with a violent bag snatch at Redfern railway station earlier the same day.^[2]

The Hickey family and supporters dispute this version of events, claiming that witnesses saw Hickey's bike clipped by the police car, thus propelling him onto the fence. This claim was supported by the testimony of two Aboriginal Liaison Officers to a NSW Parliamentary Inquiry into the death,^[3] though neither of the Officers were present at the scene. Despite calls to re-open the coronial inquest, the New South Wales government has refused to do so.^[3]

Riots

On the evening of the 15th of February, Aboriginal youths, most of them from the Housing Commission towers in Waterloo, Redfern and Surry Hills gathered at Eveleigh Street quickly after the word of the death spread, resulting in police closing the Eveleigh Street entrance to the station, which turned the crowd violent and they began to throw bottles, bricks, live fireworks and Molotov cocktails. The violence escalated into a full-scale riot around The Block, during which Redfern railway station was briefly alight, suffering superficial damage. The riot continued into the early morning, until police used fire brigade water hoses to disperse the crowd. Total damages include a torched car (previously stolen from a western suburb), and 40 injured police officers.

Post-riot

A memorial service was held on 19 February 2004 in Redfern, and in Walgett, New South Wales (Hickey's hometown), on 22 February 2004.

In 2005, the University of Technology Sydney's students' association donated a plaque with TJ's portrait, with an inscription that read: "On the 14th February, 2004, TJ Hickey, aged 17, was impaled upon the metal fence above, arising from a police pursuit. The young man died as a result of his wounds the next day. In our hearts you will stay TJ." Local police, the NSW government and the Department of Housing have refused to allow the plaque to be placed on the wall below the fence where Hickey was impaled unless the words "police pursuit" were changed to "tragic accident", which the family has refused to do.^[4]

The Hickey's parents, Gail and Ian Hickey, divorced in late 2006. Hickey supporters also claim that police have continued to harass the family, including the arrest of several family members and friends on 4 September 2010.

Legacy

The 2013 film Around the Block focuses partly on the riots.

See also

• 2005 Cronulla riots
• 2004 Palm Island death in custody (riot)
• 2004 in Australia

References

External links

• Redfern riots special (Sydney Morning Herald) - several stories surrounding the riots and its consequences.