Northern Ireland leisure centre hosting immigrants attacked on third night of violence
Masked youths in Northern Ireland on Wednesday set fire to a leisure centre that had been sheltering migrant families, but a third night of anti-immigrant violence was smaller in scale in the primary flashpoint of Ballymena.
Violence flared on Monday after two 14-year-old boys were arrested and appeared in court, accused of a sexual assault on a teenage girl in the town. The charges were read via a Romanian interpreter to the boys, whose lawyer told the court they denied the charge, the BBC reported.
In the most intense violence on Tuesday, hundreds of masked rioters attacked police and set homes and cars on fire in Ballymena, in what police condemned as 'racist thuggery'.
On Wednesday, a smaller crowd in the town threw rocks, fireworks and petrol bombs at police, who responded with water cannon.
Nine officers were injured, none seriously, bringing to 41 the number hurt since the violence began, police said. They added that a hatchet was thrown at police lines during the disorder.
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Daily Maverick
2 days ago
- Daily Maverick
Police attacked as Northern Irish violence spreads to another town
Violence first flared on Monday after two 14-year-old boys were arrested and appeared in court, accused of a serious sexual assault on a teenage girl in the town. The charges were read via a Romanian interpreter to the boys, whose lawyer told the court they denied the charge, the BBC reported. One of a number of anti-immigration protests on Thursday was held in Portadown, 50 kilometres from the capital Belfast. A large policing operation of officers in riot gear and armoured vans closed off a number of roads in advance. Debris was strewn across streets and wheelie bins were set on fire. Other protests passed off without major incident, including in Ballymena, the primary flashpoint of the first two nights of more intense violence, local media reported. Paul Frew, a member of the regional assembly from Ballymena, said that while some people gathered on the streets again amidst a big police presence, it was much quieter and that heavy rainfall had helped keep people away. 'Hopefully we're through the worst of it,' Frew, a member of the Democratic Unionist Party, told the BBC.
TimesLIVE
2 days ago
- TimesLIVE
Northern Ireland leisure centre hosting immigrants attacked on third night of violence
Masked youths in Northern Ireland on Wednesday set fire to a leisure centre that had been sheltering migrant families, but a third night of anti-immigrant violence was smaller in scale in the primary flashpoint of Ballymena. Violence flared on Monday after two 14-year-old boys were arrested and appeared in court, accused of a sexual assault on a teenage girl in the town. The charges were read via a Romanian interpreter to the boys, whose lawyer told the court they denied the charge, the BBC reported. In the most intense violence on Tuesday, hundreds of masked rioters attacked police and set homes and cars on fire in Ballymena, in what police condemned as 'racist thuggery'. On Wednesday, a smaller crowd in the town threw rocks, fireworks and petrol bombs at police, who responded with water cannon. Nine officers were injured, none seriously, bringing to 41 the number hurt since the violence began, police said. They added that a hatchet was thrown at police lines during the disorder.
The Citizen
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Kenyan court extends investigation into four filmmakers arrested for BBC documentary
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