Police clashed with protestors in the Northern Irish town of Ballymena for the second straight night on Tuesday after the arrest of two teenagers for their alleged rape of a young girl led to “racially motivated” attacks on “foreigners,” a continuation of recurring racism-fueled unrest in the country in recent years.
Violence flared for a second night Tuesday in a Northern Irish town after “racially motivated” attacks sparked by the arrest of two teenagers accused of the attempted rape of a young girl.
Hundreds of protestors, many of them masked, took to the streets of Ballymena, throwing petrol bombs and masonry as police responded with water cannon, an AFP journalist said.
There was a heavy police presence in one area of the town, some 30 miles (48 kilometres) northwest of Belfast, as the protesters set fire to a car and barricades. Police also fired plastic baton rounds to disperse the crowds, an AFP journalist saw.
The unrest first erupted Monday night after a vigil in a neighbourhood where an alleged serious sexual assault happened on Saturday.
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“This violence was clearly racially motivated and targeted at our minority ethnic community and police,” Assistant Chief Constable Ryan Henderson said Tuesday.
Houses and businesses were attacked, the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) said, adding it was investigating “hate attacks”.
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