N. Ireland town hit by ‘racially motivated' riot
BALLYMENA: Northern Irish police said Tuesday that 15 officers were injured in clashes after 'racially motivated' attacks sparked by the arrest of two teenagers for attempted rape of a young girl.
The disorder in the town of Ballymena, some 30 miles (48 kilometres) northwest of Belfast, broke out Monday night after a vigil in a neighbourhood where an alleged serious sexual assault happened on Saturday.
'This violence was clearly racially motivated and targeted at our minority ethnic community and police,' Assistant Chief Constable Ryan Henderson said.
Two teenage boys, charged by police with the attempted rape of a teenage girl, had appeared in court earlier Monday, where they asked for a Romanian interpreter, local media reports said.
The trouble began when masked people 'broke away from the vigil and began to build barricades, stockpiling missiles and attacking properties,' the police said.
Houses and businesses were attacked and three people had to be evacuated, the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) said, adding it was investigating 'hate attacks'.
Security forces also came under 'sustained attack', police said, with petrol bombs, fireworks and bricks thrown by masked rioters, injuring 15 officers including some who required hospital treatment.
- Too scared to stay -
Four houses were damaged by fire, and windows and doors of homes and businesses smashed.
One 29-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of riotous and disorderly behaviour, attempted criminal damage and resisting police.
Although police did not specify the exact reason for the unrest, the local MP had previously said tensions had been growing in the town over immigration.
Footage on social media appeared to show protesters targeting houses by smashing windows and some masked individuals kicking in doors and windows and throwing items including cans of paint and glass bottles at police vehicles.
A Romanian mother of three who lived in one of the targeted houses told the PA news agency she was scared to stay in the area.
A spokesman for UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said 'the disorder we saw in Ballymena is very concerning.
'Obviously, the reports of sexual assault in the area are extremely distressing, but there is no justification for attacks on police officers while they continue to protect local communities,' Downing Street added.
'We are actively working to identify those responsible and bring them to justice,' said Assistant Chief Constable Henderson, adding a 'significant policing presence' would remain in place.
Northern Ireland was hit by racism-fuelled disorder last August, sparked by anti-immigration riots in English towns and cities.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Malay Mail
5 hours ago
- Malay Mail
Third night of anti-immigrant violence hits Northern Ireland town as police face petrol bombs and protest
BALLYMENA, June 12 —Hundreds gathered on the streets of Ballymena in Northern Ireland yesterday, facing police armed with riot shields and water cannon on the third night of anti-immigrant demonstrations. The crowds eventually dispersed without a repeat of the chaotic scenes from the previous two nights, when houses and businesses were torched and 32 police officers were injured. The protests erupted in the northern town after the arrest of two teenagers accused of attempting to rape a young girl. The pair appeared Monday in court, where they asked for a Romanian interpreter. Police have not confirmed the ethnicity of the teenagers, who remain in custody, but areas attacked on Monday and Tuesday included neighbourhoods where Romanian migrants live. Ministers from every party in the province's power-sharing executive strongly condemned 'the racially motivated violence witnessed in recent days'. Residents had been 'terrorised' and police injured, they said in Wednesday's joint statement, urging people to reject the 'divisive' agenda being pushed by a 'destructive' minority. In response to what they termed 'racist thuggery', police deployed riot officers with dogs and have asked forces in England and Wales for help quelling the unrest. AFP journalists saw protestors throw fireworks, bricks and bottles, as well as toss two petrol bombs towards a line of armoured police cars. One road barrier was set alight, as crowds watched nearby. On Wednesday, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer called the unrest in Ballymena 'mindless violence'. A masked protestor throws an item at Riot Police during a thrid night of anti-immigration demonstrations in Ballymena, Northern Ireland yesterday. — AFP pic Around 20 miles (32 kilometres) southeast of the town, masked men set a leisure centre in Larne on fire, local media reported. The centre was temporarily sheltering people from Ballymena who had been evacuated. People living in Ballymena described 'terrifying' scenes in which attackers had targeted 'foreigners' over the previous days. Some people fixed signs to their houses indicating they were Filipino residents, or hung up British flags. 'Racist thuggery' Northern Ireland's First Minister Michelle O'Neill, the Sinn Fein vice-president, called the violence 'abhorrent'. While acknowledging the protests as a 'bit extreme', college student Lee Stewart described them as necessary 'to defend our own people'. 'We view it as the police aren't doing anything to stop what is going on to those poor wee girls,' Stewart, 18, said. The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) said in a statement that its officers 'came under sustained attack over a number of hours with multiple petrol bombs, heavy masonry, bricks and fireworks in their direction'. Some of the injured officers required hospital treatment. Police Assistant Chief Constable Ryan Henderson on Tuesday denounced the violence as 'racist thuggery' and said it was 'clearly racially motivated and targeted at our minority ethnic community and police'. Six people were arrested Tuesday during the second night of riots in Ballymena and the surrounding area. Riot Police stand guard buy armoured Police Land Rovers as protestors gather during a thrid night of anti-immigration demonstrations in Ballymena, Northern Ireland yesterday. — AFP pic The unrest comes as the topic of immigration fuels divisions across the United Kingdom and in the neighbouring Republic of Ireland. 'There is nothing remotely British about wrapping oneself in the Union flag, attacking migrants, forcing people from their homes and scapegoating entire communities anywhere in the United Kingdom,' said Former Northern Ireland minister Lord Caine. But one Ballymena resident Allison McCurdy, 52, told AFP: 'We're sending a message that Ballymena has had enough of foreigners, the town's been destroyed.' — AFP
The Sun
7 hours ago
- The Sun
Northern Ireland hit by third night of violence but main flashpoint calmer
BALLYMENA, Northern Ireland: Violence erupted in different parts of Northern Ireland for the third successive night on Wednesday, with masked youths starting a fire in a leisure centre but unrest in the primary flashpoint of Ballymena was notably smaller in scale. Hundreds of masked rioters attacked police and set homes and cars on fire in Ballymena, a town of 30,000 people located 45 kilometres (28 miles) from Belfast, on Tuesday night in what police condemned as "racist thuggery." The violence flared on Monday after two 14-year-old boys were arrested and appeared in court earlier that day, 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 that they denied the charge, the BBC reported. Police are investigating the damaging of properties on Monday and Tuesday in Ballymena, which has a relatively large migrant population, as racially-motivated hate crimes. Two Filipino families told Reuters they fled their home in Ballymena on Tuesday night after fearing for their safety when their car was set on fire outside the house. A few dozen masked youths threw some rocks, fireworks and petrol bombs at police after officers in riot gear and armoured vans blocked roads in the town on Wednesday evening. Police deployed water cannon against the crowd for the second successive night but the clashes were nothing like the previous night that left 17 officers injured and led to five arrests. Much of the crowd had left the streets before midnight. A small number of riot police were also in the town of Larne 30 kilometres west where masked youths smashed the windows of a leisure centre before starting fires in the lobby, BBC footage showed. Swimming classes were taking place when bricks were thrown through the windows and staff had to barricade themselves in before running out the back door, a local Alliance Party lawmaker, Danny Donnelly, told the BBC. Northern Ireland's Communities Minister Gordon Lyons had earlier posted on Facebook that a number of people had been temporarily moved to the leisure centre following the disturbances in Ballymena, before then being moved out of Larne. The comments drew sharp criticism from other political parties for identifying a location used to shelter families seeking refuge from anti-immigrant violence. Lyons condemned the attacks on the centre. Police said youths also set fires at a roundabout in the town of Newtownabbey, a flashpoint for sectarian violence that sporadically flares up in the British-run region 27 years after a peace deal largely ended three decades of bloodshed. Debris was also set alight at a barricade in Coleraine, the Belfast Telegraph reported. The British and Irish governments as well as local politicians have condemned the violence.
The Sun
7 hours ago
- The Sun
Northern Ireland Sees Third Night of Racially Charged Riots
BALLYMENA, Northern Ireland: Violence erupted in different parts of Northern Ireland for the third successive night on Wednesday, with masked youths starting a fire in a leisure centre but unrest in the primary flashpoint of Ballymena was notably smaller in scale. Hundreds of masked rioters attacked police and set homes and cars on fire in Ballymena, a town of 30,000 people located 45 kilometres (28 miles) from Belfast, on Tuesday night in what police condemned as "racist thuggery." The violence flared on Monday after two 14-year-old boys were arrested and appeared in court earlier that day, 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 that they denied the charge, the BBC reported. Police are investigating the damaging of properties on Monday and Tuesday in Ballymena, which has a relatively large migrant population, as racially-motivated hate crimes. Two Filipino families told Reuters they fled their home in Ballymena on Tuesday night after fearing for their safety when their car was set on fire outside the house. A few dozen masked youths threw some rocks, fireworks and petrol bombs at police after officers in riot gear and armoured vans blocked roads in the town on Wednesday evening. Police deployed water cannon against the crowd for the second successive night but the clashes were nothing like the previous night that left 17 officers injured and led to five arrests. Much of the crowd had left the streets before midnight. A small number of riot police were also in the town of Larne 30 kilometres west where masked youths smashed the windows of a leisure centre before starting fires in the lobby, BBC footage showed. Swimming classes were taking place when bricks were thrown through the windows and staff had to barricade themselves in before running out the back door, a local Alliance Party lawmaker, Danny Donnelly, told the BBC. Northern Ireland's Communities Minister Gordon Lyons had earlier posted on Facebook that a number of people had been temporarily moved to the leisure centre following the disturbances in Ballymena, before then being moved out of Larne. The comments drew sharp criticism from other political parties for identifying a location used to shelter families seeking refuge from anti-immigrant violence. Lyons condemned the attacks on the centre. Police said youths also set fires at a roundabout in the town of Newtownabbey, a flashpoint for sectarian violence that sporadically flares up in the British-run region 27 years after a peace deal largely ended three decades of bloodshed. Debris was also set alight at a barricade in Coleraine, the Belfast Telegraph reported. The British and Irish governments as well as local politicians have condemned the violence.
