On the morning of February 14, 2004 – St Valentine’s Day – 17-year-old Thomas "TJ" Hickey was impaled on a fence behind Phillip St, Waterloo, Sydney. Just before the incident, he had been seen by neighbours riding his bicycle at high speed from the area in Redfern known as “the Block”. Two police vehicles were nearby. TJ’s death sparked what is commonly known as the "Redfern Riots" – a night when Aboriginal youth from around the area vented their frustration, grief and anger.
