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Australian police station stormed

11 January 2006 - (BBC UK) - A group of Aborigines has attacked a police station with rocks and iron bars in a remote Australian outback region.

Around 100 indigenous Australians threw stones and broke windows at the police station in Maningrida in the Northern Territory.

The disturbance followed the arrest of a 19-year-old local man for allegedly assaulting a police officer.
The attack was the second instance of aboriginal rioting in two days, following unrest in Queensland.
Police reinforcements were called when more than 300 people attacked a police station and shops in the Queensland community of Aurukun on Wednesday.

Correspondents say tensions have been high in the state following last month's decision by a prosecutor not to charge a police officer over the death in custody of an Aboriginal man.

The assault on Maningrida police station took place after police arrested a man for assaulting a police officer during a drugs raid on a house, local media say.

A group of people, including some who had been at the house during the raid, then attacked the police station.

Maningrida community elders were able to placate the rioters and restore peace.


Source: BBC

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