‘It’s racial profiling’: Aboriginal families fear social media is driving vigilante attacks on young people in Perth

Noongar mother and law student Marianne McKay says her children have been unfairly targeted by people assuming they are ‘troublemakers’. Photograph: David Dare Parker/The Guardian

Aboriginal families in Perth say their children have been chased in cars and attacked in the street with knives, bats and metal bars by vigilantes whose hostility is fuelled by racist comments on social media, particularly in Facebook community groups.

Last month the killing of Noongar-Yamatji schoolboy Cassius Turvey made news across the globe and led to a national outpouring of grief and anger. A 21-year-old man has been charged with murder, assault and stealing. He has not yet entered a plea.