U.K.’s minister for Northern Ireland Thursday condemned two days of anti-immigration unrest as “racist thuggery” after police deployed water cannon for a second consecutive night to disperse rioters.
Hilary Benn said there was less disorder on the streets of Belfast on Wednesday night as opposed to Tuesday, when rioters targeted ethnic minorities and foreign residents by torching homes and vehicles following a knife attack for which a Sudanese man has been charged with attempted murder.
However, many of those who did clash with police on Wednesday were seeking to get to a hotel outside Belfast that has been targeted in the past for housing asylum-seekers.
Officers used water cannon to drive rioters back and Reuters saw what appeared to be plastic bullets, or baton rounds, on the street. The Police Service of Northern Ireland declined to comment.
Asked on Sky News if violent scenes were racist riots rather than protests, he said: "Well, if you are targeting people on the basis of the colour of their skin, how else can you describe them? That is racist thuggery."
