Four Nights of Violence in Macquarie Fields, Australia

On February 25th 2005, three young boys from Macquarie Fields, NSW were in a stolen car and were chased by police down Eucalyptus drive, the boys lost control and hit a tree on the winding road at high speed killing two of the boys Dylan Raywood 17 and Mathew Robertson 19. The 20 year old driver Jesse Kelly fled the scene on foot.

The sound of the crash echoed through the usually quiet town and people rushed from their homes to see what had occurred. Flinders oval directly opposite the crash scene soon filled with local residents, already knowing the identities of the boys that had been killed. Police, ambulance and fighter fighters had already roped off the area and were working to get the boys out. on Eucalyptus drive itself a single youth rushed up to the police tape yelling in grief knowing that his brother, his friend were already dead, police detained him and placed him in handcuffs to prevent him advancing onto the scene. as this lone boy sobs quietly on his knees with his hands behind his back in cuffs a young police officer approached him. After telling him to stop several times the police officer removed his torch from his belt and hit the young grieving child in the back of the head. The local community were outraged and began yelling at the police and throwing rocks and other objects at the police cars and officers at the scene. what followed was four nights of violence that shook this community to its core and in the process set in place a reputation of those that live here. but is this reputation Justified? and was this really just an act of unruly teenagers out to riot?

the Macquarie Fields community has a high unemployment Rate, problems with both drug and alcohol issues, many single parent families and little to no facilities to accommodate these issues. The local youth center is a very small building that has a small hall and a pool table but very little else, the Youth outreach Barbecues that occur weekly at the local basketball courts only began after the 2005 Riots, and offer only a temporary release for the local teenagers. Policing within the local community especially in the public housing estate leaves little to be desired as many of the local residents have reported waiting 5 hours or more for a response to urgent calls for help. Teenagers are regularly subjected to full searches inside the local shopping centerer including having to remove shoes and socks. young people who ride dirt bikes in the surrounding bush have had the police come up beside them in vans and open doors striking the youth and knocking them off their bikes. the tensions between the youth of the area and the police had been simmering for years.

On the 26th February 2005 the youth of Macquarie Fields blocked the road on Eucalyptus Drive allowing only local residents to pass but preventing the police from passing the barricade. The media and police will have you believe that this was an act of violence showing that the youth were in fact out to fight but if you speak to the young locals they tell a very different story. according to the Macquarie Fields youth it was a stand against the police, a symbol that they were taking back the streets because they felt they needed to be heard, One teen said that they went to the tree to grieve, to be together and feel closer to Dylan and Matt and the police wanted us to go away, so we took back what is ours and stood together they have to know we wont take anymore.

"we only wanted to be heard say the youth the police stop you when you are walking to the shop, or on your way to school, its been happening for years. When Dylan and Matt were killed it was to much", said one youth. One Resident known only as Trace said " We all knew it was only a matter of time before someone was killed with the way the police chase the kids, and now we have lost two young lives, all Dylan wanted was to play football and now he is gone", she went on to say " Kids do stupid things sometimes but they dont have to die for it, the police never leave them alone and when they kill two of them they expect the kids and the community to just take it".

Almost Three years later and things are not much better.

One youth that has asked not to be identified as he is well known to police said that his family were being woken at all hours of the morning to ensure that he abiding his bail conditions, " Yeah they bash on the door at 3 in the morning sometimes, shine flashlights into my little sister's room. she gets scared ya know" the young man stated, he went on to say "the coppers even went up to the school to tell my teacher and that what I did, even when we ain't done nothin they come after ya"

the sentiment is echoed all through the community, one shop keeper at the local shopping center stated that she had witnessed police harass a group of teenagers from the local high school as they sat and played cards in the eatery, they were made to empty their pockets and bags, and where questioned as to why they were there. mind you the kids had been there without incident for close to an hour. even though it has been almost three years since Macquarie Fields erupted into four nights of confrontation between youth and police one thing is for certain, the tension in Macquarie Fields is still high, the Police are still harassing the youth and it is only a matter of time before things explode once again.