Police in Northern Ireland deployed water cannons as anti-immigrant protests entered their second night on Wednesday after a Sudanese man was charged with attempted murder following a brutal knife attack.
Video showed a crowd of protesters hurling objects toward police vehicles, and officers responding by firing water cannons at them in Newtownabbey, eight miles north of Belfast city center. At least 16 people were arrested and 12 officers injured, police said.
The unrest followed a night of more widespread rioting when masked protesters torched homes and vehicles in a wave of anti-immigrant violence that spread after video of the knife attack circulated on social media.
Crowds gathered Tuesday in various parts of Belfast, the largest city in Northern Ireland, setting houses, a bus, cars and barricades on fire and forcing several families to flee their homes.
Politicians said the rioters had targeted the homes of ethnic minorities.
UK minister Ruth Anderson told the House of Lords on Wednesday that dozens of people, including a two-year-old, “were made homeless” as the violence escalated.
“Some 27 people were made homeless last night because people went door to door to target foreign nationals and burn them out of their homes,” Anderson said. “I can only imagine their terror.”
A local pastor, Jack McKee, told the BBC some members of his church “who have been with us for 20 years” were “getting put out of their home, had their house attacked, windows smashed, houses beside them burned.”
“They’re getting put out just because they’re Black,” he said.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said “it is clear that people were targeted last night because of their background.”
“Those responsible will feel the full force of the law,” Starmer said Wednesday in a post on X.
The overnight violence Tuesday, which injured two police officers, caused huge anxiety for some in the community. Naomi, a Muslim woman who lives near North Belfast, told CNN she was worried about her children going to school and had to pick up her son early after racist taunts from his classmates.
“My daughter’s the only girl in hijab in her year … I was worried about dropping them off, but I thought we need to have some normality this morning. We have to send them to school, and I wish I hadn’t,” she said.
Smaller protests also formed in other British cities on Tuesday night including Bangor, Glasgow and London, where a group of far-right protesters confronted police and sang anti-immigration chants.
Two police officers and three members of the public were injured in Glasgow, police said, adding that “members of the public were attacked because of the color of their skin.”
In anticipation of further violence Wednesday, police said an extra 200 officers would be on the streets and some schools in Belfast closed early while public transport was set to halt.
Jamie Corrie stands beside his burnt out house on Wednesday after rioting broke out in east Belfast, Northern Ireland, following a stabbing incident.
Peter Morrison/AP
Community members “extremely distressed”
People have been left feeling “extremely distressed” after home addresses were shared on social media and communication apps following amid the disorder, the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) said in a statement on Wednesday.
Police had received calls from distressed families, homeowners and neighbors because of the “reckless activity,” the statement added.
“This is unacceptable. It is putting lives at risk and has to stop.”
Police said social media posts brought to their attention would be investigated and warned that people who shared personal information online intending to endanger others “may be committing a criminal offense.”
UK media watchdog Ofcom said it had warned online service providers that their platforms increasingly risked “being used to stir up hatred, provoke violence and commit other offences under UK law.”
Concerns have also been raised about messages encouraging disorder circulating on WhatsApp. One such message urged men age 18 and over to “be prepared to fight or be arrested,” according to reports in some British media.
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Belfast
Knife attack victim’s family calls for calm
The protests flared after police said Tuesday they had charged a 30-year-old Sudanese man with attempted murder over a knife attack the previous evening that was filmed by a bystander and went viral.
In the footage, a man can be seen pinning a visibly bloodied man to the ground and attacking him multiple times before bystanders and police officers managed to subdue him.
