First Nations communities in Queensland are fearful for their young people after an angry mob descended on the home of two Aboriginal men in Rockhampton.
Scores of people were encouraged to the vigilante action on Sunday after a former One Nation candidate posted the names and photos of the young men, believed to be teenagers, in a Facebook group accusing them of crime.
The Queensland Police Commissioner has since said they were acting on "wrong" information.
Aboriginal communities in Rockhampton and its surrounding areas are concerned more vigilante acts could occur.
"It has caused a lot of fear within the community itself, especially young Indigenous kids," said Alwyn Doolan, who was born in Rockhampton and lives at Woorabinda Aboriginal Community.
"I've seen that they're now continuing separate [Facebook] pages around the areas of Rockhampton. So they have a Gracemere page that's happening now.
"It's caused this sort of unsettling, unknown fear of looking over our shoulders, because who knows what these mobs are going to do?"
Vigilantism and mistaken identity targeting Indigenous youth
Sunday's incident comes amid a heightened debate about youth crime in the area. The two young people, who live in a residential care home, were accused of being responsible for recent break-ins and car thefts.
The state's police commissioner, Katarina Carroll, said on Monday that the information the mob in Rockhampton was acting on was false.
“Some of the information is quite wrong… the stuff on social media is pure speculation," she told reporters in Cairns.
"What we have is a group of people going to people’s houses for this issue, and the information is wrong."
Such examples of mistaken identity are not new. Chris Cunneen, a professor of criminology at UTS' Jumbunna Institute, said it was "a given" that such instances affect Indigenous youth more.
"Particularly when the kids were simply identified as being First Nations children, it actually leads to the potential for any First Nations person to be assaulted or abused," he told NITV.
An observer of far-right and vigilante activity for several years, Professor Cunneen said Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are disproportionately affected.
"We can see this from Darwin to Kalgoorlie to Townsville and Rockhampton, to Dubbo in New South Wales, to the Kimberleys and the northwest of WA," he said.
Mr Doolan said a relative of his had been unfairly caught up in the online vitriol surrounding the events in Rockhampton.
"[Their] Facebook profile was posted within that group, and someone identified [them] saying that [they were] the perpetrator," he said.
"[They were] in Rockhampton at that time. If someone had seen that... who knows what could have happened to [them].
"We could have had another case like young Cassius, who was mistakenly identified."
Facebook group created by former far-right leader
The names, faces and address of the two young men were posted online by Torin O'Brien, a former One Nation candidate for the seat of Rockhampton. Mr O'Brien spoke to the mob in a nearby park before leading them to the young men's house on Sunday.
The Guardian reported on Tuesday that Mr O'Brien had a history of similar behaviour. He was the national leader of the now defunct far-right 'Patriots Defence League', which posted anti-Islamic content online as well as people's personal information.
A Facebook post showing support for the organiser Tobin O'Brien, who posted the young people's informaiton. The name of the Facebook group has been obscured.
"That's very clear in terms of the racism that's there," he said.
"Certainly we saw in this recent case, far-right groups coming out in support of what happened in Rockhampton."
