Broken Hill. Public memorial erected to local politcian Percy Brookfield who was assassinated at Riverton Railway Station in South Australia in 1921.
One of the most radical men to lead the miners was NSW Member of Parliament Percy Brookfield. He began as a Labor MP in 1917 but left the party in 1919 as they were not radical enough. He was a strong supporter of the Industrial Workers of the World movement and the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia. In 1920 he contested the Broken Hill seat as a member of the Industrial Socialist Labor party and won. His support of the Bolsheviks probably led to a mentally unstable Russian émigré Koorman Tomayeff attacking him on the Riverton Railway Station platform on 22 March 1921 at the refreshment rooms. When the gunman started firing at passengers a local policeman drew out his revolver but it jammed. Brookfield ran towards Tomayeff with the gun but he was shot and wounded. Brookfield wrestled Tomayeff to the ground saving other passengers from gun fire. Brookfield died the next day of his wounds and over 40 shots were fired by Tomayeff. Several other passengers were wounded and one died. Tomayeff was not tried but certified insane and died in 1948 in a mental hospital in Adelaide. This was the first political assassination in Australia. Brookfield was buried in Broken Hill cemetery with a large publicly funded memorial obelisk.
Broken Hill. Public memorial erected to local politcian Percy Brookfield who was assassinated at Riverton Railway Station in South Australia in 1921.
One of the most radical men to lead the miners was NSW Member of Parliament Percy Brookfield. He began as a Labor MP in 1917 but left the party in 1919 as they were not radical enough. He was a strong supporter of the Industrial Workers of the World movement and the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia. In 1920 he contested the Broken Hill seat as a member of the Industrial Socialist Labor party and won. His support of the Bolsheviks probably led to a mentally unstable Russian émigré Koorman Tomayeff attacking him on the Riverton Railway Station platform on 22 March 1921 at the refreshment rooms. When the gunman started firing at passengers a local policeman drew out his revolver but it jammed. Brookfield ran towards Tomayeff with the gun but he was shot and wounded. Brookfield wrestled Tomayeff to the ground saving other passengers from gun fire. Brookfield died the next day of his wounds and over 40 shots were fired by Tomayeff. Several other passengers were wounded and one died. Tomayeff was not tried but certified insane and died in 1948 in a mental hospital in Adelaide. This was the first political assassination in Australia. Brookfield was buried in Broken Hill cemetery with a large publicly funded memorial obelisk.