BELFAST: Masked men burned families out of their homes in Belfast in a wave of anti-immigrant violence on Tuesday night (Jun 10) after a Sudanese man was charged over a knife attack, Northern Ireland's First Minister Michelle O’Neill said.Hundreds of protesters, many with their faces covered, attacked police and burned vehicles in a number of locations across Northern Ireland after a video of the knife attack, which left one person with serious neck and head wounds, went viral.A number of homes could be seen burning in the city on Tuesday evening. Video broadcast by the BBC showed police helping a family escape from a burning house."There can be no excuse and no justification for these attacks tonight," O’Neill said in a statement. "Groups of masked men burning families out of their homes is nothing less than disgusting cowardice.""SICKENING" KNIFE ATTACK TRIGGERS VIOLENCE
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer described the initial knife attack, which took place in north Belfast late on Monday evening, as "sickening". The attack, 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. It also follows repeated protests about immigration, with populist parties saying Britain's asylum policy had allowed dangerous men into the country. There was anti-immigrant rioting in Northern Ireland last year amid anger over an alleged sexual assault.
