Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has decried a fatal attack on an Aboriginal boy in Perth as racially motivated as a growing chorus of Indigenous leaders express their frustration with the response of WA Police.
With Aboriginal leaders voicing frustration at the police response to the death of Cassius Turvey, saying Indigenous people have been left anxious and distressed, Mr Albanese said he believed the alleged attack had a racial element.
Cassius Turvey, and in hospital (inset). His family have consented to the use of the images in this report.
“This attack, that clearly is racially motivated, just breaks your heart,” he told reporters.
“We are a better country than that, and my heart goes out to the family and the friends.”
Cassius was wearing his school uniform and walking with friends when they were allegedly confronted by a utility full of people while walking along a Middle Swan street around 4.30pm on October 13.
His family claim the teen was accused of smashing a car window the previous day, before he was chased down by one of the occupants of the vehicle and bashed with a metal pole.
Cassius’ friends who were at the scene claim that the people from the ute hurled racial slurs at them.
Jack Steven James Brearley, 21, was earlier this week charged with murder and is due to face a Perth court next month. On Friday police added one charge of assault occasioning bodily harm and one of stealing, alleging he assaulted a 13-year-old boy who was with Cassius by hitting him with a metal pole believed to be a shopping trolley handle.
They also allege he stole the boy’s crutches and cap.
Statements made earlier this week by WA Police Commissioner Col Blanch sparked anger when he said police were investigating whether the tragedy was a vigilante attack gone horribly wrong but did not speculate on the potential motive.
“It may be a case of mistaken identity, it may be a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time, but I wouldn’t want anyone in the community to jump to any conclusions at this time other than that we have charged a person,” he said.
“We’re not operating on any principles of racism or motivation at this point, other than to say we believe there was a damage incident that occurred, and that’s resulted in the [alleged] murder of a very young boy.
Cassius Turvey died after a violent attack. This photo is published with permission of the family.Credit:Facebook
“I do understand the high public interest, this is a devastating outcome to have a young boy killed on the streets in Western Australia, it’s absolutely horrific.”
On Friday, Albanese said the incident was a terrible tragedy.
“This attack, that clearly is racially motivated, just breaks your heart,” he told reporters.
“We are a better country than that, and my heart goes out to the family and the friends.”
WA Premier Mark McGowan earlier urged caution after a jury was dismissed in the ACT trial of Bruce Lehrmann, who is accused of raping Brittany Higgins in Parliament House.
“It’s before the courts, courts will decide these things,” Mr McGowan said regarding the alleged murder of Cassius.
“You don’t want to intervene in these things. You’ve seen something happen over east today whereby people say or do something they shouldn’t, and trials are abandoned.
“I’m not going to do that.”
The premier said the teenager’s death was extremely sad.
“I just feel so much for the family of that little boy. He looked like a beautiful little boy,” he said.
“They are going through a lot and it’s unimaginable, really.”
On Friday, Blanch warned against making statements which could prejudice court proceedings but admitted he regretted that his words had upset the community.
“I regret the impact of my words,” he said. “Cassius was an innocent victim of a violent attack, resulting in his death,” he said.
“All leaders in our community should be focused on stopping racism in our community. But when it comes to this case, we must be extremely careful not to prejudice the investigation,” he said at a press conference.
“I think all leaders in this community should be very mindful that to get the right justice for Cassius, we must not preempt the facts and evidence provided at court.
“The community would not accept a commissioner of police damaging a judicial process because I had views before they were found in court. That is not my role as commissioner, that is not the role of police.”
But Aboriginal leaders have voiced frustration at the police response, saying the alleged murder has left Indigenous people anxious and distressed.
Community representative Hannah McGlade, who works for Curtin University on issues of justice and race discrimination, said the Aboriginal community was concerned the police response had not been adequate, and that “a tone is being set”.
She said the refusal by police to talk openly about the issue of racism, even when a child had died, was extremely disappointing.
Cassius’ mother Mechelle Turvey.
She compared the police response to that of the kidnapping of Cleo Smith.
“When Cleo was abducted a police task force was established and it got the attention the case deserved,” she said.
“Why doesn’t the killing of a young boy deserve that kind of attention?”
Greens senator Dorinda Cox stated publicly that her heart broke for Cassius’ family, friends and community.
“He was only 15 years old when he was senselessly killed,” she said.
“He was a young leader who will be remembered as a ‘vibrant, caring, jokester with a beautiful smile’ who loved school and his family.”
Cassius’ mother, Mechelle Turvey, described her son as a vibrant, caring and funny boy with a beautiful smile.
Open letter from Indigenous leaders
We have come together as a Noongar Nation.
Let’s make this a fight for all of us, for change.
We are hurting, our people are hurting for a long time.
We are standing straight and tall, for our children and young people.
Cassius was the most beautiful young man you could ever meet. Instead, he’s being portrayed differently.
Our kids aren’t bad, but they are portrayed as bad. None of the kids are bad, they have a right to walk the streets.
We need to be a Voice for our young people.
You see them locked up in prison, you don’t see them for who they really are. It seems like our state government just wants kids locked up.
This is our chance to come together for our children. There were several people involved in this very serious attack on our children. Only one has been charged with murder. Why is that?
Why did Perth Children’s Hospital release Cassius from hospital after just 5 days? We know that if a white child was killed like this it would be different.
Cassius was not ‘in the wrong place at the wrong time’. He was in his school uniform with his friends in broad daylight.
They set upon him with weapons.
We want our children to stand up to racism. It’s very real in this community. We must respond to this as a Hate crime. That’s what it was.
The Premier and Police Commissioner are telling us to be quiet. We know attacks on our children are real. They are minimizing this horrific killing of young Cassius. This is wrong and dangerous especially as our people are not selected for juries.
We as a Noongar Nation are outraged by this mindless, inhumane, cowardly racist act against an innocent child. We call on Government to meet us now.
The Noongar Nation.Enough is Enough.
“I’m heartbroken for my son; 15 years of age; for no reason, I have lost him,” she said.
“I’m just appalled at some of the violence going on in our communities.”
A GoFundMe page which called on Australians to stand up against injustice, discrimination and racism has raised close to $380,000 for Cassius’ family in just four days.
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