People watch as a vehicle burns during a protest in Belfast following a stabbing incident in Belfast, on Tuesday. PETER MORRISON/AP
Politicians and law enforcement officials in Northern Ireland appealed for calm on Wednesday after a night of anti-immigrant rioting forced people from their homes.
The unrest, which mainly affected the city of Belfast, followed a knife attack on Monday evening in which a 30-year-old Sudanese man who had entered the country illegally and claimed asylum appeared to have tried to cut someone's head off. The suspect has since been charged with attempted murder and other offenses, and police have said they do not think the incident was terror-related.
On Tuesday, peaceful protests against knife crime were hijacked by people carrying clubs and blazing torches who entered streets where immigrants were known to live, apparently intent on revenge.
Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland Emma Little-Pengelly told Good Morning Ulster she condemned "any and all violence or thuggery that we witnessed on the streets in places across Northern Ireland last night".
