By Malcolm Brown, Les Kennedy, Jared Wormald and Robert Wainwright
December 13, 2005
Page 2 of 2

A witness, Linda El-Hassan, 19, said a shot was fired at the woman's car but she was not injured. Miss El-Hassan said she was Lebanese and opposed the violence. "We all came to this country and we are all one in this country."

Bay Street was strewn with rubbish and a government bus was attacked and its back window smashed. A large number of police gathered in Bay Street, where a senior officer was heard to say: "Let's get our [riot] gear on and smash 'em."

At the Lakemba Mosque earlier, a media crew had been involved in an altercation with some in the crowd about 7pm. A man is believed to have suffered a broken leg during a scuffle.

Islamic leaders tried to calm the crowd, imploring the men over a loudspeaker to go inside and pray. Outside the Maroubra Bay Hotel, police dressed in riot gear prepared for any violence.

A Channel Seven reporter, Robert Ovadia, was surrounded by a group who menaced him, spat in his face, threatened to head-butt him and told him that the media had stirred up all the trouble. Mr Ovadia called police, who sent a patrol car. The Herald's reporter at Maroubra retreated under a hail of water bombs.

The Bra Boys had told the media they were not welcome.

Police said there was evidence of text and email messages promoting another confrontation at Cronulla next Sunday.

One email, obtained by the Herald, congratulates those involved in Sunday's riots but warns of armed retaliation. "This is only the beginning, this is a start of the war! Leb's n wog's won't stand for this and will start singling out the aussies and gang bashing them with drawn weapons. We must continue to come together to help the innocent and family's so everyone can enjoy our beach's!"

Mr Iemma said Sunday had exposed the "ugly face of racism in Australia". But John Howard said: "I believe yesterday's behaviour was completely unacceptable but I'm not going to put a general tag [of] racism on the Australian community ... I do not accept there is underlying racism in this country. I have always taken a more optimistic view of the character of the Australian people."