Police in the United Kingdom city of Belfast have used water cannon to disperse dozens of far-right protesters during a second night of unrest triggered by a knife attack involving a Sudanese refugee.<\/p>\n
The clashes on Wednesday came as the family of the stabbing victim appealed for calm and condemned the wave of anti-immigrant violence in the city in Northern Ireland.<\/p>\n
Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list<\/p>\n
Police said the protesters threw \u201cmissiles\u201d such as rocks and bottles at officers, while images from the scene showed several fires burning on the streets.<\/p>\n
Police said officers deployed \u201cwater cannon in an attempt to maintain public order\u201d.<\/p>\n
But the unrest was markedly less severe than on Tuesday evening, when hundreds of masked men burned families out of their homes and set vehicles alight.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want to make it absolutely clear that overnight unrest is not welcome, and peaceful protest is the only way forward,\u201d the family of the victim, Stephen Ogilvie, said in a statement.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have many migrants who make a deeply valuable contribution to our country\u2026 We do not want this terrible tragedy to be used to divide people or fuel hostility,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n
The family added that Ogilvie, who lost an eye and suffered serious wounds to his neck and face, was in a stable condition.<\/p>\n
Suspect appears in court<\/p>\n
Their appeal came as the suspect in the attack, a 30-year-old \u200cSudanese national named Hadi Alodid, appeared in court on charges including attempted murder.<\/p>\n
He was remanded in custody, and the case was adjourned to July 8.<\/p>\n
Videos of the stabbing attack circulated online all day on Tuesday, sparking calls on social media for violent protest. Police had to help one family escape from a burning house, according to the Reuters news agency, while several cars and a bus were set on fire and reduced to shells.<\/p>\n
Local politicians and a pastor said many of those targeted were Black.<\/p>\n
UK minister Ruth Anderson said at least 27 people were made homeless in Belfast \u201cbecause people went door-to-door to try and target foreign nationals\u201d.<\/p>\n
Resident Jamie Corry, 33, said he could only watch on as his house went up in flames.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was actually standing right there watching my whole house just go up, slowly but surely,\u201d he told Reuters. \u201cI told them and all, when they were lighting a car up on fire, \u2018that\u2019s my property, that\u2019s my property\u2019\u2026 and they still didn\u2019t care.\u201d<\/p>\n
The attack comes at a time of heightened tensions<\/a> in the UK following the murder of a student <\/a>in Southampton who was handcuffed by police as he lay dying from stab wounds after his killer, a Sikh man, had falsely alleged a racist attack.<\/p>\n Tech billionaire Elon Musk reposted many messages that blamed migration on violence in the UK, sharing a post that argued that the \u201cvery deliberate policy of mass uncontrolled immigration and open borders\u201d is increasing tensions.<\/p>\n \u2018Bad faith actors\u2019<\/p>\n