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Masked rioters in Northern Ireland attack police and set houses on fire
In Ballymena, Northern Ireland, masked rioters attacked police and set houses on fire for the second night in a row. The riots followed a protest against a sexual assault.
Masked rioters in Northern Ireland attack police and set houses on fire
Serious riots broke out in the Northern Irish town of Ballymena on Tuesday when hundreds of masked rioters attacked police and set houses and vehicles on fire. These riots followed a protest over an alleged sexual assault. Police reported they were dealing with a "serious disturbance" in Ballymena, about 45 kilometers from the capital Belfast, and urged people to avoid the area.
Attacks on the police and destruction
Officers in riot gear and armored vehicles used water cannons and rubber bullets after being attacked with Molotov cocktails, scaffolding and rocks. These were obtained by the rioters by tearing down nearby walls, a Reuters eyewitness reported. One house burned completely and a police officer vomited after leaving another building in the other part of the city that the rioters also tried to set on fire. Several cars were set on fire while one of the vehicles was upside down in flames as police sirens echoed through the city around midnight.
Incident classified as a hate crime
On the first night of unrest on Monday, four homes were damaged by fire and windows and doors of other homes and businesses were smashed. Police investigated these incidents as possibly racially motivated hate attacks. Earlier on Monday, hundreds of demonstrators gathered in Ballymena to protest a case involving two teenagers appearing in court accused of sexually assaulting a teenage girl in County Antrim. According to local media reports, the charges were read out through an interpreter.
Injuries and further protests
On Monday, 15 police officers were injured, some of whom required hospital treatment. Separately, protests blocked some streets in Belfast early on Tuesday, but no unrest was reported in other parts of the British-administered region. The British government and local politicians condemned the violence. “The horrific scenes of civil unrest we saw in Ballymena this evening have no place in Northern Ireland,” Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Been said on X.