December 16, 2005
Authors of racial SMS face a $5,000 fine and 6 months in jail
As Australia continues to come to terms with the ugliness of Cronulla beach riots and the violent Maroubra reprisalls, The Australian. reports that police are interviewing a number of people over mobile phone text messages calling on people to rally on the Gold Coast on Sunday and start "cracking skulls".
The text messages are similar to those which inspired racial conflict in Sydney last Sunday.
Queensland Police Minister Judy Spence said officers were treating the SMS messages very seriously and had interviewed a number of people. "They have traced the source and the time and place that those SMS messages originated," she said.
The authors of the messages face a $5,000 fine and six months in jail.
Police believe the messages are a hoax but they have formulated a contingency plan and will be ready on Sunday.
Related:
-- Police consider SMS Cronulla messages 'a crime'
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