Australian police accused of racism over shooting of Aboriginal joyriders

The video has prompted outrage from the Aboriginal community and accusations
of racism. Protesters on Tuesday held a rally outside the New South Wales
Parliament, demanding an independent inquiry.

“This crosses the line – straight-out racism,” said 16-year-old Douglas
Martin, a friend of the injured.

“I want them to get punished … Just because they’re coppers, that’s just a
… uniform, that’s just a name.”

Police have called for calm amid fears the incident could stoke racial
tensions which have occasionally spilt into riots in the impoverished
inner-city suburb of Redfern, home to a large Aboriginal community.

An internal police inquiry will examine whether the officers were correct to
open fire.

Mark Murdoch, an assistant police commissioner, said “people literally jumped
for their lives” as the car came hurtling towards them.

“It posed a significant danger, a real significant danger, to the many
pedestrians on the footpath at the time.”

Police typically have a strong presence in Kings Cross on weekend nights,
mainly to curb fights and violence which frequently break out along a
central strip of bars and strip-clubs.

Police say the stolen car travelled along the footpath for about 100 metres as
pedestrians jumped out of the way on Saturday and they opened fire because
they thought the 29-year-old woman was going to die. The woman suffered
chest injuries but has been released from hospital. It remains unclear
whether police shot at the passenger as well as the driver.

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