Violence in Belfast, United Kingdom, continued for another night into Thursday over the attempted beheading of a local by a Sudanese immigrant.Masked crowds clad in black marched out again on Wednesday night into Thursday, where they encountered a far more concerted police response than on previous nights. In contrast to the lackluster response the night before, riot police backed by fleets of armored cars confronted the crowds, who hurled masonry, bricks, fireworks, and Molotov cocktails at them. Police responded with water cannons and rubber bullets, crowd control methods that are mostly rare in the U.K.The Police Service of Northern Ireland leaned on their formations of armored cars, battle-tested in previous bouts of sectarian violence between Catholics and Protestants, to keep the riots in check.
With the police out in force, Wednesday night’s violence was focused between formations of rioters and riot police, lasting well into the night. Rioters smashed up sidewalks with sledgehammers to hurl bricks at police lines. Others aimed lasers directly at officers.
In total, 12 police officers were wounded, and 18 rioters were arrested.
Police Federation of Northern Ireland Chairman Liam Kelly denounced the rioters as “violent racist and fascist lawbreakers” and “bullies” who offered nothing but “hopelessness and mindless thuggery.”
