As alluded to earlier, the police shooting of 15-year-old Tyler Cassidy in the Melbourne suburb of Northcote last night (Thursday, December 11) has particular significance at FDB: Tyler was a member of the racist youth network Southern Cross Soldiers (SCS).
The SCS initially came to the media’s attention in November, when Liam Houlihan published an article in the November 23 edition of the Sunday Herald Sun: Victorian police vow crackdown to stop ‘another Cronulla’. The slackbastard blog provides some additional commentary, and a number of SCS members were moved to denounce the article, S.C.S Melb Leader commenting:
The pro-Cronulla riot videos released onto youtube then added to our myspace had more than just racism about them, they showed a whole army of my fellow countrymen and women standing up for themselves, for something they believe in, and most importantly standing up for there country. They were not put there to glorify the cronulla riots in any way, just merely a well compiled video of plenty of aussies and australian flags, that really caught my eye and made me feel good
In keeping with the Cronulla tradition, the previous weekend — the third anniversary of the Cronulla riot — the Melbourne chapter of the group held a party.
Publicly disavowing ‘racism’ is in keeping with the more general response of SCS members and followers to such accusations: SCS are not ‘racist’, merely ‘patriotic’. However, a closer look at some of the members reveals an explicitly racist stance. Thus ASH (S.C.S ENFORCER) writes:
SPECIAL THANKS TO CRONULLA BOYS AND GIRLS
FUCK YOU TO THE GREASY WOG CUNTS YOU DESERVED IT
AUSSIE AUSSIE AUSSIE OI OI OI
A Facebook page dedicated to the Cause (which currently has over 150 members) describes its ‘Positions’ in the following terms:
1. love it or leave
2. save a whale harpoon a leb
3. whats the diference beween a trampoline n a leb??? you have to take your shoes off to jump on a trampoline hahahahahaha
Clearly then, many SCS members are motivated by ethnic and racial antagonism towards those who are not ‘White’, and who therefore — in the eyes of SCS — do not qualify as being authentically ‘Australian’.
As for Tyler, an article (Shot teen Tyler Cassidy a member of ‘white pride’ group) by Mark Dunn in the December 12 edition of the Herald Sun states:
…One of those who knew him, and attests to his violent temper, told the Herald Sun that unless the police shot Tyler, he would have made good on his threat to kill the officer.
Tyler fell in with the wrong crowd and had befriended a group of skinheads, the former friend said.
He said Tyler was known for his sporadic violence, but other than an assault charge had no significant criminal history.
“Minor things such as randomly attacking people he did not like the look of or acting tough and starting fights with anyone he could,” the former associate said.
“He was always angry and after trying to help him out for longer than anyone else I know more than anyone I know he was beyond help.
“His poor mother would always try to help him and do her best as a parent and he would only ever respond with anger and hatred towards her.
“Since he joined the SCS and started hanging out some mates he called “skinhead mates” he started drinking excessively and getting much more violent.
“The officers that shot him most definetly [sic] had good reason with the way he was and if they didnt do what they did he wouldnt have stopped.”
The Northcote location where he was shot – The All Nations Park – appears to have been a gathering ground for like-mided [sic] racists, possibly because of its name.
A sticker for the Creativity Movement – another white supremicist [sic] group – is plastered beneath the All Nations sign. Similar stickers have been bobbing up throughout Melbourne…
Leaving aside the accuracy of the claims made by Tyler’s anonymous former friend — and, it should be said, All Nations Park has never been noted for its role as a gathering point for racists — there is some evidence of an affiliation to ‘skinhead’ culture on Tyler’s myspace page: a photo of a skinhead (whom he describes as his twin) and a link to nationalistic Sydney band R.U.S.T., one of several largely apolitical ‘street punk’ bands with links to various more straightforwardly right-wing and xenophobic networks.
As for the ‘Creativity Movement’, it’s a one-man band based in Melbourne, and centred on Patrick O’Sullivan, a neo-Nazi skinhead with a violent criminal history — in 2002, O’Sullivan was sentenced to two years and nine months’ jail for intentionally causing injury and intentionally causing serious injury — and a former associate of the neo-Nazi murderer Dane Sweetman.
O’Sullivan specialises in cultivating relationships with ‘troubled youth’.
NB. Generally speaking, within the skinhead sub-culture, where not actively fought, racism is actually frowned upon. Traditional or ‘trad’ skins refer to racist skinheads as ‘boneheads’, and argue that the racists betray the sub-culture’s bi-racial (black and white) roots, and ongoing history. While the sub-culture has its origins in the 1960s, organised racism only made its first real inroads into skinhead sub-culture in the UK in the late 1970s, and skinheads have been fighting back ever since. In Europe, and especially Russia, this struggle has assumed some very violent forms.
Roddy Moreno of Welsh skinhead band The Oppressed explains the evolution of SHARP: Skin Heads Against Racial Prejudice. Excerpt from the Swiss documentary film Skinhead Attitude (2005):
I knew Tyler, he was a good kid with a lot of spirit.
His involvement with SCS, white nationalism or anything else has nothing to do with his untimely demise.
He had never met or heard of Pat O’Sullivan, he was not involved with any other like-minded groups.
His death is tragic and should not be taken lightly, the police involved acted poorly.
The Herald Scum is lying again @ndy. You should know that by now.
I just took a look at scumfront and it made me sick. I understand why you hate nazis so much now. Cos I hate them too. They treat people like meat.
I liked how your sympathies for Tyler changed as soon as you found out he had differing politics to you. I guess I can’t blame you for that. It’s only natural.
He was only a kid. He was little and there were four of them and they had guns and he was blinded by the spray.
Why did they do this? Does your ideology offer you any answers cos mine sure doesn’t.
He didn’t have to die.
“The Herald Scum is lying again @ndy. You should know that by now.”
Precisely what lies is the Herald Scum telling?
“I liked how your sympathies for Tyler changed as soon as you found out he had differing politics to you. I guess I can’t blame you for that. It’s only natural.”
Evidence?
“Why did they do this? Does your ideology offer you any answers cos mine sure doesn’t.”
I think an understanding of police procedure and psychology is more important than anarchist ideology is in explaining what happened.
They (the police) did what they’re trained to do. Police are authorised to use lethal force, and should only draw their gun if they have a reasonable belief that their own life or that of another person is in serious danger. According to police, Tyler was armed with a knife (or knives); he was behaving erratically; he was asked to surrender but refused; he was sprayed twice but failed to submit; he threatened one or more of the officers (with his knife); they therefore had reasonable grounds to shoot. Further, police shoot to kill, not injure.
So the police shot and killed him.
Presumably, the police believed that they were at risk of death or serious injury — to claim otherwise would mean they would be in a whole world of trouble. (Note that police perception of danger
is unrelated tobears no necessary correspondence with its reality.)More generally…
The four officers involved appear to have been fairly young; or at least, that is what their junior status implies (three constables and one senior constable). As such, I wonder if the outcome may not have been a little different had a more senior, and therefore experienced — and perhaps less ‘trigger-happy’ — officer been involved.
Northcote cop shop is immediately adjacent to the shopping centre, and so too the spot where Tyler was shot dead (All Nations Park). In which case, upon receiving reports, police would presumably have been on the scene in a moment. The point Father Peter Norden makes I think is a legitimate one. That is, in cases where a person is behaving in a manner that suggests some form of mental imbalance, it would be appropriate to have available a specialist team to deal with it. The aim of policing, after all, is the containment of crime and state control of the population, not extra-judicial execution.
Regarding the possible consequences of alternative responses, while the details of what occurred are not available, it does not appear to be the case that Tyler had actively threatened anyone with harm — or at least, not until he encountered the police. Exactly what happened following this encounter is unclear: media accounts are sketchy, and occasionally contradictory. In any case, if police were to have ‘backed off’, it would not have been in order to allow Tyler to simply ‘escape’. Rather, the aim would have been to allow police numbers to be reinforced, and to prevent him from leaving the area (and thus posing a possible threat to others).
Clearly one kid who’s parents were unable to control him and now looking to blame whoever and get some sort of cash compensation for their failed parenting. This is just saving us the cost of having a lunatic in a jail for 20 or 30 years down track.
Im sure everyone will come out now and say what a great guy he was but my view based on what we know from the media is that the cops have done the right thing. Should be more of it.
F**K THIS NAZI LITTLE CUNT
Total joke this little cunt is or should I say was
AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
F**KING NAZI IS NOT WELCOME IN AUSTRALIA
At the end of the day guys, he was just a 15 year old boy. He will never grow old, he will never live to bring his dreams to life or even have life long dreams.
Whatever his “influence” he was a kid.
The News claim the Police said they had no choice, but there are ALWAYS options, always choices. They chose the easiest, quickest solution. To end a young, perhaps troubled life, rather than to preserve it.
It’s easy to judge when you are on the outside looking back with a clear view. But the truth is none of us were present. And in the end, Tyler is now gone.
I hope, that the people who took his life, feel justified in ending a boy’s chances to ever fully experience and explore this life.
Whatever he was, whoever he wanted to be, he was just a young boy who will never grow into a great man.
Placing blame is pointless, it won’t bring him back, undo the past or change facts.
Rest in peace young Tyler, hopefully now you can.
Save us the $ now – shoot: Tyler’s father died several yrs ago. Like most mums, Tyler’s mum tried her best.
I knew Tyler.
He used to go to my school.
I was shocked, disgusted and very upset when I heard about this.
Idiot police. There are OTHER techniques of disarming two knifes off a 15 year old boy. They should have learnt them in training.
Tyler was good kid. He treated me and most people in a friendly manner unless you provoked him. Yes, he was a bit on the wild side though he was caring, friendly and was a high-spirited young man.
He did not deserve what happened to him. What a waste of life.
Why the hell can’t police use less than lethal force? There’s got to be more than capsicum spray! Tranquilisers, tasers, nets, anything! Surely we need to spend some money on some innovation in this area. The boy’s beliefs aside, he didn’t deserve death. We’ve had the odd student at school go crazy with knives – do you think us teachers pull out the old Glock and pop ’em? Honestly those police involved are incompetent and should be ashamed. Was it 6-8 shots? Do you think they got him? Gutless… police should be professional enough to defuse a situation like that without loss of life.
well he’s dead now… not number one but a zero
that’s what happens when you threaten cops with knives whilst fueled by hatred.
pretty stupid isn’t it? SCS cowards hiding behind their computers spreading anger and hate.
15 years old…what a waste.
I don’t think anybody disagrees the incident is tragic. Even if he DID have fascist views, he’s a kid.
I can’t personally hate a child in good conscience, and I can’t wish police violence on them.
But questions will need to be asked about how he got to the point that suicide-by-cop seemed like a good idea. That might not be anything to do with SCS, but belonging to a fascist gang will come up in the considerations. People will want answers to this, and that search for answers will be difficult.
I absolutely pass on my condolences to his family and friends, even his bonehead friends.
But I’d implore people to look hard and try and work out what can be done to prevent another tragic death like this. If it turns out the SCS’s ideas contributed, then I’d implore the SCS to consider folding before another kid does something stupid.
Such a sad waste of young life. 15 years old… I agree with Vampboy, and I am disgusted by the comments of Jason and ‘Shoot now’. Where is the compassion for our fellow human being – after all, is it not a lack of compassion that would have lead to this boys demise? Why does our society alienate the sick and blame the psychologically unbalanced? Whilst his mother, teachers and peers would have tried their very hardest to support him had they known anything was wrong, these efforts are in vain when judgmental and overly opinionated people make up the rest of the members of the public.
This story has much to teach us; why do four policeman have the right to end a young man’s life? Surely they is a need to train policemen in non-lethal self defence. Above all however, I think this tragedy voices the ever increasing need for compassion in our society. It’s not hard; just imagine yourself in their shoes!
I feel sorry for the kid but he’s obviously been sucked in with scum “friends” in more recent times and his mother / family no longer had control. He’s had previous form and this time round, lost it completely. Can’t blame the cops for firing in that situation. If we’re going to have a Royal Commission maybe the question should be: “Why didn’t they take him out sooner?”
Thus ASH (S.C.S ENFORCER) writes:
SPECIAL THANKS TO CRONULLA BOYS AND GIRLS
FUCK YOU TO THE GREASY WOG CUNTS YOU DESERVED IT
AUSSIE AUSSIE AUSSIE OI OI OI
when the fuck did i write that you lying cunt. your full of shit
Good question ash s.c.s enforcer. Unfortunately, I didn’t take a note of it at the time, and SCS pages seem to be disappearing or going private at a rapid rate of knots, so I don’t know.
Btw, what’s the difference between an “enforcer” and a “defender”?
PS. It’s spelled “you’re full of shit”.
The aforementioned text was part of a video glorifying the Cronulla Riots posted on the MySpace page of ‘ASH (S.C.S ENFORCER)’.
It’s unknown whether the text was in fact ‘written’ by him, but the fact that he was displaying such content on his profile suggests that he agrees with the message, especially considering the video was coupled with the comments “this vid just goes to show that aussies will only take so much shit before we bite back” and “I believe everyone is welcome, but try to change our way of life and see what happens”, as well as other xenophobic and racist images and slogans.
Those are the facts.
The video is still posted on the profile (as I type) but now when you attempt to play it, you get a message that says “This video has been removed due to terms of use violation”.
The MySpace profile that I refer to in the previous comment can be found at http://www.myspace.com/ashleylayt
It’s tragic yes, he was 15, but get over it.
You can argue the system let him down, whatever. At the end of the day, point a knife at a cop, get shot. There should be more of it. More and more kids are becoming cunts these days and it’s because everyone has gone soft.
Also, this SCS stuff is a load of bollocks! Bunch of scared kids and a few others who should know better, banding together and spewing out shit that doesn’t make sense. One of their symbols is the Eureka flag for fuck’s sake!
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wtf im not even in the s.c.s but i feel bad for our fallen aussie brother all you uni fags sitting on your computers disrespecting tyler better be carefull not to drop your names or wearabouts.. he was a good kid and doesnt deserve you shitkunts talking shit bout him especially you “Jason” your words of hatred towards tyler have only brang us to your attention.. you will be found and dealt with accordingly. the darkness are everywere my freind.. dont walk the streets at night..
The accuracy of my comments was fucking spot on, I may have been young when I wrote them in but there was nothing but truth behind everything I said. I knew him for 6 years, and we pretty much never left each others side. He was on a road that was only getting worse and he was for a fact incredibly racist, we used to walk around self proclaimed skin heads. I remember one of his favorite sayings “if it aint white, it aint right”. If we ever had the chance and there was someone of a different ethnicity to us the first words out of his mouth would be “lets bash the black/yellow/leb cunt”. I love how much lies people spout out about someone after they’re dead…