Northern Irish police have deployed water cannons to disperse protesters after bricks were hurled at officers this evening (June 10). Riots continue in parts of the country in response to a knife attack in Belfast earlier this week.
The water cannons have been sprayed at protesters in County Antrim, where a large Department for Infrastructure vehicle was set alight. Footage of the outbreak shows masked men tearing bricks from properties and smashing paving stones with sledgehammers to create projectiles to throw at riot police. They could also be seen taking wheelie bins from outside homes and lighting fires in them.
Balaclava-clad rioters also broke open a metal fence to access the Sandyknowes Wastewater Pumping Station and removed a garden fence to use as a shield against the police water cannon. Videos shared on social media showed protesters attempting to march to the Chimney Corner Hotel, with riot police and several vans deployed to manage the demonstrations. The Chimney Corner Hotel is known for housing migrants.
The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) said officers deployed water cannons to maintain public order after missiles were thrown at police. In Derry, police reported items having been set alight on the Ardmore Road. Additional police officers are on the streets in the region following significant unrest on Tuesday night after the brutal attack on Monday.
Public transport was suspended and some schools closed early on Wednesday with fears of a second night of violence. Earlier, Hadi Alodid, 30, appeared in court charged with attempted murder over Monday's knife attack in which victim Stephen Ogilvie lost an eye. Mr Ogilvie, who is aged in his 40s, remains in a serious condition in hospital in Belfast. It is understood he is in an induced coma.
The reaction to the incident saw mobs set homes, a bus and cars on fire on Tuesday, with people targeted based on their race. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer vowed to “crack down on anyone who is fuelling this division.” Alodid appeared before Belfast Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday morning charged with the attempted murder of Mr Ogilvie, with threats to kill an NHS radiographer and with possession of a knife.
The court heard Mr Ogilvie lost his left eye and suffered deep cuts to his head, face and back. District Judge Stephen Keown refused bail after hearing police concerns there could be “significant public disorder” if he was released due to “strong public feeling” about the incident. The judge warned that anyone who plans to take part in further disorder in Northern Ireland should “be prepared to go to prison.”
In Westminster, security minister Dan Jarvis said: “Reports that ethnic minorities were targeted are sickening.” The Prime Minister said the rioting in Belfast was “shocking and completely unacceptable.” “It is clear that people were targeted last night because of their background and I will not tolerate it,” he said. “Those responsible will feel the full force of the law.”
Police Service of Northern Ireland Chief Constable Jon Boutcher said 200 more officers would be on the streets on Wednesday night. “We will deal with this,” he said. “We will be on the streets tonight in numbers even more than we were last night, and we have got arrangements in hand to get mutual aid that will be arriving here tomorrow.”
The force said that following the recent disorder, “some social media users are posting address details online.” “We have received phone calls from a number of families, house owners, neighbours and members of the wider community who are extremely distressed as a result of this reckless activity,” a spokesperson for the PSNI said. “This is unacceptable. It is putting lives at risk and has to stop. Anyone who shares personal information online with the intention to endanger others may be committing a criminal offence.”
Mr Jarvis told MPs more arrests would “surely follow.” An 18-year-old man became the fourth person to be arrested, after a petrol bomb was thrown at two police officers during disorder in Carrickfergus on Tuesday night. Police said one officer was taken to hospital for treatment while the other was treated at the scene. The man was arrested on suspicion of riot at an address in Carrickfergus, Co Antrim, on Wednesday.
Mr Ogilvie's family said in a statement they were “devastated by the horrific attack” but pleaded for calm. “We are aware of the tensions and talk of protests following this incident,” the statement said. “We want to make it absolutely clear that overnight unrest is not welcome, and peaceful protest is the only way forward. We have many migrants who make a deeply valuable contribution to our country, including in our healthcare system and hospitality sector and we depend on them to make our country work. We do not want this terrible tragedy to be used to divide people or fuel hostility.”
