The family of a white grandmother allegedly stabbed to death by a South Sudanese boy have joined forces with the local African community to demand calm as racial tensions erupt in crime-ridden Queensland.
Vyleen White was allegedly murdered in front of her six-year-old granddaughter at Redbank Plains Town Square, outside Ipswich, southwest of Brisbane, at 6.10pm on Saturday while the pair were buying snacks for Bible study.
Five teenagers, aged between 15 and 16, have been arrested in connection with the incident.
A 16-year-old boy from Bellbird Park in Ipswich, who moved to Australia from South Sudan as a baby, has been charged with murder, unlawful use of a vehicle and theft.
On Thursday, Ms White’s daughter Cindy Micallef joined the Queensland African Communities Council (QACC) to call for ‘peace’ after reports of abuse and harassment towards the African community in Ipswich.
Cindy Micallef (pictured), the daughter of alleged murder victim Vyleen White, stood with the African community on Thursday and called for calm after racial tensions escalated
Queensland African Communities Council chairman Beny Bol said the families of the teenagers arrested in connection with Ms White’s case were “heartbroken” and felt “judged and misunderstood”.
Ms White said her family had been “torn from their hearts” but she did not want the community to react angrily towards innocent families.
“Mama’s legacy will live on in peace. She was never one to be biased, she always looked for the best in people,” she said at a media conference in Redbank Plains alongside QACC president Beny Bol OAM.
Bol said he was “moved” by Ms Micallef’s decision to join him in calling for peace and unity.
“We are united and we want to ensure that no other family goes through the same pain again,” he said.
Cindy Micallef said her mother’s legacy would “live on through pin-peace” and that she didn’t want Vyleen’s name to be associated with racial prejudice
Vyleen White’s blind husband Victor (centre) slammed Queensland Premier Steven Miles’ approach to youth crime, labeling him a ‘jellyfish’
“This is not about race or religion, we are here because if someone in our community – and I’m talking about the Australian community – and they care and they are grieving and they want to see Vyleen’s legacy shine, then we need to join us . You must be with us.
“The best way we can honor her legacy is by preaching peace, unity, justice and responsibility, and ensuring that those who do wrong are held individually accountable.”
Mr Bol said the families of the teenagers arrested in connection with Ms White’s alleged murder and the theft of her car were “heartbroken” and felt “judged and misunderstood”.
“People don’t know what they’re going through,” he said. “They came (to Australia) because of their children, they wanted a future for their children.
“These are parents and families who want to see everyone happy, live in peace, and want to see children grow up in peace and enjoy life… they feel so powerless and confused.”
Vyleen White (pictured) was stabbed to death in the underground car park of the Town Square Redbank Plains Shopping Center on Saturday
Mr Bol said since Ms White’s death, African-Australians in places further afield than Ipswich have received “a lot of verbal abuse” and troll attacks on social media.
The attacks included people saying ‘go back’, ‘you are monkeys’, ‘you shouldn’t be in this country’ and ‘pack up all your things and go back to your country’.
Ms Micallef said she had spoken to families of African descent who were “afraid to take their children to school” after the attack on her mother.
“You’re always going to get rogue criminals,” she said, but called on Queensland Premier Steven Miles to take stronger action on crime prevention.
“He promised to protect the community and make changes,” she told the news conference. ‘There’s no substance to what he’s saying.
“If this government doesn’t make change, we’re going to bring in someone to make the changes we need.”
Peter Garang Kooch, president of the South Sudanese Community Association of Queensland (SSCAQ), said in the days following Ms White’s death there had been a spike in aggression against members of his community, both in public and online.
Pictured: Peter Garang Kooch, president of the South Sudanese Community Association of Queensland
He said he was aware of at least three reports to police in the Ipswich area of harassment incidents.
“There has been verbal abuse and some (people) threaten to attack physically, so they (community members) had to run away for their safety,” Mr Kooch told Daily Mail Australia.
“Now everyone in my community is afraid that something will happen to us in a shopping center or meeting place – women and children are especially afraid.”
The SSCAQ has become the target of hateful comments online
Mr Kooch said the families of the accused boys were particularly frightened.
Hate comments have appeared on SSCAQ’s Facebook page in recent days, with some people calling for the accused teenagers to be ‘deported’ – despite having spent most of their lives in Australia.
Mr Kooch said the SSCAQ was also “comforted” by the support of other members of the Australian community, who rallied behind them after seeing some of the cruel taunts online.
As tensions rise, he said police had agreed to attend a pre-planned community event scheduled for Saturday to ensure no problems arise with potential gatecrashers.
Akwol Pajok, who is originally from South Sudan and has lived in the Redbank Plains area for four years, told Daily Mail Australia on Tuesday she was shocked to hear about the alleged murder.
Local woman Melissa Halliday visits a supermarket memorial on Tuesday as residents call on the government to tackle youth crime
Mr Kooch said that when children were expelled from school, they went from being bored at home to being recruited online to commit crimes.
He said he believed a secondary cause of juvenile crime was that children were placed in detention centers, where they learned criminal behavior from other inmates and then took them out into the outside world.
Ms Micallef’s press conference comes after Ms White’s blind husband Victor White coined an insulting new nickname for Queensland’s under-fire premier.
Mr White said Miles – who made headlines for appearing to laugh at a press conference about the alleged murder, which he said was “inevitable” – should be called “jellyfish” because of his lack of backbone.
Mr White – who personally told Miles ‘you have the power to fix all this nonsense, this is about you having no backbone’ – went on to say 2GB Thursday that Miles was “no better than a jellyfish, the guy has no backbone, he can change his name to ‘jellyfish.’
Mrs White’s almost 50-year-old husband, who was heavily dependent on his 70-year-old wife because of his blindness, said he believed the alleged murder was “a calculated attack” and “technically a professional killing”.
However, police insist this was not the case. They said the motive behind the fatal stabbing in the mall parking lot was “to steal a Hyundai Getz.”
Victor White said he believed a group of youths had been “stealing things and alcohol from the mall all day” when his wife “returned to the parking lot at the wrong time.”