Protesters clash with police in Alice Springs after girl’s killing

Anger over the killing of a five-year-old Indigenous girl boiled over in Alice Springs, where about 400 people gathered outside Alice Springs Hospital after the arrest of a man police suspect abducted and killed her. The crowd quickly turned volatile, with some people demanding payback in line with Aboriginal customs as projectiles were thrown, fires were lit and police vehicles, ambulances and fire trucks were damaged. Officers answered with tear gas as emergency crews and police struggled to keep the scene from sliding further out of control.

Police identified the suspect as Jefferson Lewis and said he was arrested at about 10:30pm on Thursday. Northern Territory Police Commissioner Martin Dole said Lewis was initially assaulted by members of the Charles Creek town camp before police took him to hospital, and later flew him to Darwin for his safety after the unrest outside the hospital intensified. Police also said Lewis had recently been released from prison and that forensic testing on children’s underwear found DNA profiles belonging to both Lewis and the child.

The girl was last seen at Old Timers town camp on the outskirts of Alice Springs, and her body was found about five kilometres south of that crime scene after a five-day search involving hundreds of people on land and by air. Her family asked that she be referred to as Kumanjayi Little Baby in line with Indigenous customs and thanked volunteers, police, land councils and interstate helpers who joined the search. Police said they were not yet able to explain the cause of death.

The violence exposed more than raw grief. Indigenous Australians make up about 3.8% of Australia’s population of roughly 27 million, yet face disproportionately high rates of incarceration and suicide and sit near the bottom on many social and economic indicators. That backdrop has long shaped distrust in central Australia, where officials moved quickly to contain the anger. Northern Territory Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro imposed a day-long ban on takeaway alcohol and sent more police from Darwin, while Prime Minister Anthony Albanese urged calm and said he understood the community’s anger and frustration. Senior Aboriginal elder and family spokesperson Robin Granites said the man had been caught and that justice should now take its course.