Widespread rioting broke out in Belfast after police arrested a Sudanese man on Tuesday over a knife attack, prompting online calls for anti-immigration protests.
Videos and images posted online showed houses, barricades, and vehicles, including a bus, set on fire by the rioters.
One resident of the area told BBC News that “Masked men were bashing down doors,” while the Belfast Telegraph reported that Molotov cocktails had been thrown at police officers.
The BBC also reported that a group of around 100 masked protesters, including a large number of teenagers, had kicked in doors and broken windows in east Belfast.
The Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service (NIFRS) had a “busy evening,” an operational update stated, responding to 62 incidents between 7 p.m. and midnight.
“The majority of these incidents were in the Greater Belfast Area, where an additional 21 fire appliances from across Northern Ireland were required to meet demand,” the NIFRS stated,
CNN also reported that more far-right, anti-immigration protests had formed in other British cities, including Bangor, Glasgow, and London.
A pastor from the area told the BBC that people had been targeted and put out of their homes during the riots “because they’re black.”
“I’m angry and disappointed that this is the response of people in our community,” he said.
Irish officials condemn violent riots
Northern Ireland First Minister Michelle O’Neill called the actions of the rioters “nothing less than disgusting cowardice.”
“This has nothing to do with community,” she wrote on X/Twitter. “This is outright thuggery.”
Northern Ireland Secretary of State Hilary Benn also condemned the violence, saying that the riots were putting innocent lives at risk.
“People have been rightly shocked by the brutal attack in north Belfast, but the police must be allowed to do their job so the law can take its course,” he stated.
The Police Service of Northern Ireland appealed for calm, asking community leaders to discourage violent and disorderly protests.
Sudanese man suspected of ‘sickening’ knife attack
The attack, which kick-started the riots, had occured on Monday evening, when a 30-year-old Sudanese national attacked a man in his 40s with a kitchen knife, causing significant injuries to his eyes and slash wounds to his face and back.
The incident, which is currently not being treated as terrorism, comes at a time of heightened tensions in Britain following the murder of a student who was handcuffed by police as he lay dying from stab wounds after his killer, a Sikh man, falsely alleged a racist attack.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer described the incident as “sickening” after video of the attack, which took place in north Belfast, was shared widely on social media.
Reuters contributed to this report.
