SYDNEY, Australia (AP) – Mainly Aboriginal rioters set fire to a train station and pelted police with gas bombs Monday during a nine-hour street battle that began after a teenager died, allegedly while being chased by officers.
The overnight rioting in the Redfern neighborhood, an Aboriginal ghetto of Australia’s most populous city, left 40 officers injured and highlighted continuing tensions between authorities and the nation’s original inhabitants.
The street battle followed the death of a 17-year-old Aborigine, Thomas Hickey, who was impaled on a fence when he fell from his bicycle. His mother claimed officers were chasing the teen, an allegation that police deny.
Death of Aborigine teen sparks riots
February 16, 2004
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