A second night of chaos has erupted in Belfast with protesters heading back onto the streets for violent clashes with police – hours after a ‘hit list’ of ‘migrant homes’ circulated on social media.
Masked gangs hurled projectiles including bins and bricks at a line of riot police on the Sandyknowes roundabout in north Belfast.
Officers were believed to be protecting the Chimney Corner Hotel in nearby Newtownabbey, where asylum seekers are housed.
Trouble flared when rioters, many hooded and masking their faces, began charging police lines, in what is believed to have been the only flashpoint tonight.
Wooden fencing was torn down to be used as missiles to pelt the Police Service of North Ireland’s (PSNI) armoured Land Rovers, which had taken up formation across the width of the Antrim Road.
The rabble aimed traffic cones, wheelie bins, bricks, bottles and fireworks at police, and fires were also lit.
They tore bricks from houses and used sledgehammers to arm themselves with debris.
A police water cannon was then deployed for the first time since rioting erupted over the violent stabbing of Stephen Ogilvie in north Belfast on Monday night.
Riot police shield behind armoured vehicles as they face down at group of protesters hurling projectiles
A water tanker was set on fire in north Belfast, near where hundreds of protesters gathered on Wednesday night
Police fired water cannons on protesters on the Antrim Road, north-west Belfast, who were marching towards a migrant hotel
Hundreds of people were milling around near the Sandyknowes roundabout, with some directing bricks, bottles and fireworks at police
The mob was sprayed with a powerful jet of water as they hurled missiles at dozens of riot police from close range.
Explosions were also heard in the area, and a Department for Infrastructure vehicle was set on fire nearby.
A sinister hit list of Belfast addresses, purportedly houses where migrants live, was being circulated on X today, countered by calls for locals to rally around their occupants.
Kate Nicholl, South Belfast MLA, wrote on X: ‘There is a so-called hit list doing the rounds on social media.
‘I have spoken to PSNI who will be actively patrolling areas and have spoken to several people in these addresses.
‘People of all ethnicities feeling unsettled right now, check in on your neighbours & keep safe.’
Officers are currently still attempting to clear the road as a police helicopter hovers overhead monitoring the crowd below, who are slowly being pushed back.
One protester said: ‘There wouldn’t be any of this going on if they’d just let us reach the hotel. They’ve cause the trouble tonight by being too heavy-handed.’
Groups of masked men again gathered, defying the repeated calls for calm
Protesters have clashed with rows of armoured police vehicles as disorder once again flares up on Belfast’s streets
Fire crews swiftly put out the flames on the water tanker near the Sandyknowes roundabout
Earlier in Belfast, an eerie stillness fell as police braced for a repeat of last night, when houses, cars, a bus and a supermarket were torched by anti-immigrant protesters.
Two men appeared in court today charged with rioting on Tuesday night, and a third man was arrested for allegedly throwing a petrol bomb that injured two police officers.
Shops closed early and battened down the hatches, with some boarded up for their protection.
Trains and buses were cancelled, and some schools took the decision to remain closed.
The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) flew in 200 officers to help quell any further unrest.
Groups lashed out on Tuesday night after a Sudanese asylum seeker was charged with attempted murder over after the incident on Monday night.
Hadi Alodid, 30, appeared in court today charged with the attempted murder of Stephen Ogilvie, in his 40s, who lost his left eye and suffered deep lacerations in the attack.
Keir Starmer vowed to ‘crack down’ on anyone ‘fuelling division’, and Northern Ireland First Minister Michelle O’Neill condemned the ‘outright thuggery’ – but nerves remain high this evening in the reeling city.
An eerie silence fell over Belfast city centre this evening, with the streets much emptier than usual
Shops closed down early and battened down the hatches in anticipation of more unrest
The charred shell of the Glider bus set on fire on Tuesday night was removed with a crane
There appeared to be a targeted campaign against non-white residents last night, with several families left homeless after their houses were set alight.
An African family who have lived in Belfast for 20 years was among those targeted, and a Ukrainian teenager was forced to flee after her family’s front door caught fire.
A two-month-old baby had to be rescued from the rioters, and footage showed one family being ushered past flames into an armoured police vehicle.
A Middle Eastern supermarket was specifically targeted in Belfast, while a Turkish barbershop was trashed in County Antrim, around 20 miles outside the city.
In the east of the city, Lendrick Road was swallowed up by flames. Jamie Corry, who has lived there for 13 years, watched in horror as his house was ‘completely’ destroyed by thugs, alongside ‘sentimental’ items belonging to his late father.
Congolese man Anselme Shima, who lives nearby with his wife, two sons and daughter, fears his family could be next to be targeted.
He said: ‘It’s just a terrifying moment, we don’t know what to do. I’m scared. Seeing this, I’m wondering if I’m next. If this happened (again), is my house the next to be attacked? I don’t know.’
So far, two men, aged 39 and 42, have been charged over the violence, which has been condemned across the political spectrum.
Last night, Lendrick Road in east Belfast was engulfed in flames after fires leapt from cars to houses
Residents had to be evacuated on Tuesday night after houses were set ablaze
Dwayne Thomas Andrew Burton, 42, from Clara Street in east Belfast, was charged with rioting and attempting to damage a police Land Rover in the Newtownards Road area in east Belfast.
He also faces a count of assaulting a civilian detention officer while in police custody.
Belfast Magistrates’ Court heard that Burton is alleged to have thrown a shopping trolley at the Land Rover and was also observed allegedly inciting the crowd of protesters.
He is then accused of jumping on top of the vehicle, punching it and attempting to open the passenger door.
District judge Steve Keown refused bail, and remanded Burton in custody to appear before the same court on July 8.
Andrew Kane, 39, of Carwood Avenue in Newtownabbey, appeared separately before Belfast Magistrates’ Court facing a single riot charge after being arrested in his local area.
Kane was also remanded in custody, to appear again before the court on June 16.
Naomi Long, Northern Ireland’s Justice Minister, said some families with young children have been left homeless after their homes were destroyed.
Sudanese asylum seeker Hadi Alodid, 30, appeared in court on Wednesday charged with attempted murder over the knife attack on Monday night
Serious knife wounds were inflicted to the face, neck and back of Stephen Ogilvie (pictured)
‘It is just obscene that last night there were young children who had nothing to do with the attack in north Belfast, young families who had nothing to do with the attack in north Belfast, were left homeless, who lost everything because of what happened the night before,’ she told BBC Radio Ulster.
‘Yet they are completely innocent, and it’s completely unacceptable, frankly, what has been done to them.’
In Westminster, security minister Dan Jarvis said: ‘Reports that ethnic minorities were targeted are sickening.’
The Prime Minister said the rioting in Belfast was ‘shocking and completely unacceptable’.
‘It is clear that people were targeted last night because of their background and I will not tolerate it,’ he said.
‘Those responsible will feel the full force of the law.’
Police Service of Northern Ireland Chief Constable Jon Boutcher said 200 more officers would be on the streets on Wednesday night.
‘We will deal with this,’ he said.
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‘We will be on the streets tonight in numbers even more than we were last night, and we have got arrangements in hand to get mutual aid that will be arriving here tomorrow.’
Mr Jarvis told MPs there had been three arrests ‘but more will surely follow’.
Mr Ogilvie’s family said in a statement they were ‘devastated by the horrific attack’ but pleaded for calm.
‘We are aware of the tensions and talk of protests following this incident,’ the statement said.
‘We want to make it absolutely clear that overnight unrest is not welcome, and peaceful protest is the only way forward.
‘We have many migrants who make a deeply valuable contribution to our country, including in our healthcare system and hospitality sector and we depend on them to make our country work.
‘We do not want this terrible tragedy to be used to divide people or fuel hostility.’
Mr Ogilvie’s family said they were ‘completely devastated’ by the attack and said the unrest was ‘not welcome’.
Alodid appeared before Belfast Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday morning charged with the attempted murder of Mr Ogilvie, with threats to kill an NHS radiographer and with possession of a knife.
The court heard Mr Ogilvie lost his left eye and suffered deep cuts to his head, face and back.
Alodid, who appeared in court via video link, made no reply to the charges when they were put to him through an Arabic interpreter.
The court heard Alodid said ‘I’ve killed someone, I don’t know if they are dead’ while in hospital receiving treatment for a hand injury and told medical staff ‘I will kill you’.
District Judge Stephen Keown refused bail after hearing police concerns there could be ‘significant public disorder’ if he was released due to ‘strong public feeling’ about the incident.
The judge warned that anyone who plans to take part in further disorder in Northern Ireland should ‘be prepared to go to prison’.
