A mob of about 30 people surrounded a home in the central Queensland city of Rockhampton on Sunday, after a series of angry online comments were directed at two Aboriginal young people believed to live at the house.
The incident has prompted renewed concerns about organised vigilante activity, amid heightened tensions in Queensland around youth crime.
Torin O’Brien, a former One Nation candidate, posted the names and photographs of the two young people, believed to be teenagers, on Facebook and called for locals to attend the property on Sunday, suggesting the youths were responsible for recent criminal activity.
When they arrived, some members of the group chased one of the occupants as they ran away through the backyard. Police arrived soon after and stood guard outside.
In a Facebook post identifying the youths, O’Brien announced his intention to “go and visit … just let them know we’ve all had enough”.
“To put it simply … the more you fuck around, the more you find out,” O’Brien wrote, followed by a fist emoji.
Footage of the confrontation, posted on a private Facebook page that Guardian Australia has chosen not to name, includes members of the mob making comments to police.
One person makes a comment suggesting the occupants are being protected “because they’re black”. Another calls on police to “let us have at them”.
“They can’t arrest all of us … not enough handcuffs,” one member of the crowd says.
Guardian Australia attempted to contact O’Brien on Sunday night.
Police said in a statement that investigations into the incident are continuing.
“People who do attempt to take matters into their own hands can very well have any weapon turned on themselves and could face harm or in some cases could themselves face legal recourse dependent upon their actions,” police said.
The incident comes amid heightened tensions elsewhere in Queensland about youth crime and increased concern about vigilante activity directed at children.
Guardian Australia revealed in February that children in a residential care home in a separate part of Queensland were subject to death threats on social media – including calls for neighbours to “storm the house” and “hang whoever is inside” – after media reports incorrectly claimed the premises was a halfway house for young criminals.
Deleted Facebook posts by community members included one that uses heat map technology to show the movements of children and others, including people with disabilities and other seriously vulnerable people, in care facilities owned by the same charity.
Police believe vigilantes were responsible for burning down a Sunshine Coast house connected to a serious assault allegedly involving three girls aged 12 to 14.
The head of Queensland’s child protection peak body has raised concern that recent media commentary linking youth crime to the state’s residential care homes is “inaccurate and dangerous”, potentially placing vulnerable children and workers at risk.
Media reports on Saturday about a residential care home at Maryborough referred to the facility as a “youth hell house” and claimed it had been “frequented” by a boy, 13, accused of causing a fatal crash that killed three people.
One story included a map identifying suburbs where residential care homes were located.
The state MP for Maryborough, Bruce Saunders, has said he wants residential care homes shut down or to be taken over by corrections workers.
Tom Allsop, the chief executive officer of PeakCare Queensland, said residential care homes mainly housed children with complex support needs due to disabilities, or who had experienced abuse and trauma.
“Any inference that these houses are full of ‘ticking timebombs’ or that they should all be run by youth justice or corrective services is profoundly upsetting to the hundreds of children who have no other choice but to call a residential care house their home,” Allsop said.
“They are there because it is not safe for them at home, they do not have a parent willing and able to care for them and they have no other suitable options.
“Inferring that all children in residential care are youth criminals is not only wrong, it’s dangerous for those children and the dedicated carers who support them.”
Allsop said the Maryborough crash was “a devastating tragedy”.
“The thoughts of people across Queensland are with those hurting at this time. I strongly agree we need to hold children accountable for their behaviours in ways that work, and communities deserve to be kept safe.
“Justified community anger at a small minority of young people who allegedly committed offences while also in care must not become a persecution of all young people in care.”
Allsop said there were about 1,600 children in residential care in Queensland – almost double from five years ago, and higher than other states and territories. He said Queensland desperately needed more family-based carers and more support for kin carers.
“While we must not forget or excuse the devastating impacts for those who have been the victims of youth crime, as a society we need to remember that children in care are victims too.”
