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Warning: This story contains the name and images of a deceased Indigenous person.
The disappearance and death of a five-year-old girl has sparked violent uproar in the heart of Australia.
Images out of Alice Springs show fires, tear gas and rubber bullets being used on crowds late on Thursday night outside the town’s hospital where the suspect was being treated.
The tragic death and its violent aftermath has captured the attention of the country.
What happened in Alice Springs overnight?
An angry crowd of protesters converged on Alice Springs Hospital late on Thursday after police revealed they had captured Jefferson Lewis and news spread that he’d been taken to the facility.
Officers received multiple calls about 9.30pm that Lewis was at one of the town camps in Alice Springs and was being violently assaulted by a group of people, Northern Territory Police Commissioner Martin Dole said.
Lewis became the subject of one of the Northern Territory Police’s biggest ever manhunts after a little girl vanished from an Alice Springs town camp on Saturday night. Authorities alleged Lewis had taken her from her family’s house as she slept.
The body of Kumanjayi Little Baby was found just before midday (NT time) on Thursday by the Todd River, and police later announced that Lewis was arrested at an Alice Springs home about 9.30pm.
Locals soon gathered at the hospital where he was taken and a riot erupted.
Police took shelter and used tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse the crowd after protesters hurled abuse at them and smashed police car windows. Vehicles were set alight and jumped on as officers attempted to move the crowd along.
“We’re outside the Alice Springs Hospital, and it is the site of carnage,” NT speaker Robyn Lambley told Today on Friday morning.
“It’s been a place where people have gone crazy. The service station across the road has been trashed. The smell of burning garbage is in the air.
“To go from being distraught and bereft yesterday – after hearing about the loss of little Kumanjayi – to now having to deal with probably one of the biggest riots we’ve seen in Alice Springs ever, it’s crazy.”
How did the riot begin?
NT Police commissioner Martin Dole told Sky News on Friday morning that Lewis was arrested after police received calls that he’d given himself up at a town camp and was being violently assaulted.
“The police were set upon by the crowds at that time, as were the ambulance officers that were attending,” Dole said. “We evacuated Mr Lewis to the Alice Springs hospital for treatment.”
A crowd soon gathered outside the hospital about 10pm shouting “they got him” and demanding police hand Lewis over to be dealt with by the community.
Dole estimated up to 400 people were present. He said they tried to “get at” Lewis in what he agreed was an unacceptable form of payback.
“The law must apply equally to everybody,” he said, “and as Northern Territory police, we take an oath to serve and protect, and we don’t get to choose who we protect, and that’s what we were doing last night.”
Lambley, the local MP for the NT parliament seat of Araluen, told Nine “it kicked off” and a police car was set on fire.
“The service station, as I said, across the road, has been completely trashed. I just went and had a look before there’s rubbish strewn everywhere. There was a woman in labour who couldn’t access the hospital because of the riot. This is just madness.”
Dole said the violence lasted about five hours before police dispersed the crowd.
“I think there’s a lot of grief and sorrow and tensions do remain high, but look, the violence from last night has been quelled,” he said.
Minister for Indigenous Australians Malarndirri McCarthy called for calm on ABC Radio on Friday morning.
“There needs to be a proper process now in terms of this criminal investigation, and it must not be jeopardised by foolishness,” she said.
Who is Jefferson Lewis, and where was he arrested?
Lewis, a 47-year-old man, was wanted by police in relation to the disappearance of Kumanjayi Little Baby on Saturday night.
Lewis was known to the family and likely “in and around the house” at Old Timers Camp at the same time as the five-year-old girl, said NT Police acting commander Mark Grieve.
Dole, the police commissioner, said on Friday that the ability of Lewis to evade detection from Sunday to Thursday led him to believe somebody was assisting him.
“And my message for those people is you better watch out,” Dole said, “because when we find out who you are, we’ll be coming for you as well.”
This masthead has been told Lewis eventually turned up in Charles Creek. Dole said he was attacked after he turned himself in to community members rather than police.
“He received quite a severe beating, I’m told. He had some significant head injuries. He was treated at the Alice Springs hospital,” Dole said.
“Mr Lewis has since been transferred via police air wing to Darwin at about 3.30am.”
Dole said Lewis hadn’t been charged yet.
“This investigation is continuing today in earnest,” he said, “but I anticipate that today or tomorrow that charges will be laid.”
Where was Kumanjayi Little Baby’s body found?
The five-year-old girl abducted and found dead near Alice Springs is now to be referred to Kumanjayi Little Baby according to her family’s wishes and local Indigenous custom.
Her body was found five kilometres south of Old Timers Aboriginal Town Camp near the dry Todd River about midday on Thursday.
In an emotional press conference, police labelled it “the worst possible outcome” of a five-day search.
Kumanjayi Little Baby’s grieving mother, in a statement, said the child was so loved.
“I know you are in heaven with the rest of the family with Jesus, and the Father, Son and Holy Spirit,” she said.
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