Thousands attend vigils for Cassius Turvey in Australia

Thousands of Australians joined vigils in cities and towns across the country to mourn the death of Aboriginal schoolboy Cassius Turvey, who was murdered in a suspected racially motivated attack last month.

An estimated 3,000 people turned out to show their support at Sydney Town Hall, while in Perth his mother led the vigil in the centre of the city as thousands “rallied, marched and chanted”, said 9News.

Mechelle Turvey, Cassius’s mother, thanked the Australian public for their support, saying: “The love, the generosity, the kindness, and the outpouring of tributes across the nation has been so appreciated.”

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Those at the Perth vigil were invited to add gum leaves or branches to 15 smoking fire pits arranged in a circle, “each representing a year of Cassius’s life”, reported Perth Now.

In reference to the police’s statement that Turvey had been “in the wrong place at the wrong time”, a poster at one rally asked: “How far did Cassius need to run to be at the right place?” said The Sydney Morning Herald.

On 13 October, the teenager was “walking home from his Perth school with friends when a stranger allegedly pulled up in a utility vehicle and told the group to run”, said the BBC.

“Passengers in the car allegedly chased down the Aboriginal boys – who were wearing their school uniforms – before two were violently attacked.”

One of the boys, aged 13, had his own crutches used to beat him. Then, say police, Turvey was assaulted with a metal pole and died ten days later from injuries sustained during the attack.

A 21-year-old man has been charged with Turvey’s murder in a case that has “shocked Australia” and “posed hard questions” about “pervasive racism in the country”, said the BBC.

Although police have urged the public not to speculate about a motive or “jump to conclusions”, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has said that the attack was “clearly” racially motivated.