Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
Demonstrations in the small town of Ireland in the north of Ballymena have evolved in acts of anti-immigrant violence this week after two adolescents who spoke of the Romanian were accused of sexual assault of a local girl.
For three nights, masked rioters burned houses and vehicles in what Ryan Henderson, deputy chief of the Northern Ireland Police Service, called “Raciston, pure and simple”, leading to multiple arrests and dozens of injuries.
Violence follows the arrest of two 14 -year -old boys accused of the attempted rape of a teenager. The two accused made An appearance before the court Monday, where they spoke with a Romanian interpreter. (Police announced a third arrest linked to the case on Tuesday.)
The incident triggered the anti-immigrant feeling shuddering in Ballymena, where nearly 5,000 of the 31,000 residents were born outside Britain, Ireland or Northern Ireland, According to census data.
In the global population of Northern Ireland, ethnic or racialized groups make up Only 3.4% of the global population of Northern Ireland, compared to 16% of Ballymena.
More than 30 police officers were injured after being attacked with fire bombs and three nights, and a dozen people in Ballymena and around Ballymena have been arrested so far.
The riots had a significant effect on immigrants in the city.
“I have to save my children,” said a Bulgarian woman, adding that she had lived in Ballymena for almost 10 years. But after his family home was targeted by rioters, the family plans to leave.
How it went
The outburst took place on social networks, through hundreds of tweets, videos and images catalogating the days of riots. The CBC visual surveys team collected and verified the images to show how this small town fell into violence.
On SundayOne day after the alleged rape, a message on Facebook circulated in the local community, telling people to meet in a local place known as Ken parking at 7:30 pm, to “show their anger”.
A peaceful vigil started Monday Night in support of the alleged victim, the deputy mayor of Ballymena, Tyler Hoey, expressing his support to the demonstrators. But the event quickly awarded, with hundreds teeming in the streets, targeting houses and companies related to foreigners.
Before sunset, which would be some time before 10 p.m., the barricades are burnt down near a church, with the police nearby.
🇬🇧🚨 serious anti-immigrant riots in Northern Ireland after teenagers have sexually assaulted!
Burning and house -of -house exit from Ulster after sexual attacks. pic.twitter.com/gyavjoatij
Shortly after, masked people can be seen breaking house windows near the church, which can be seen in the first video in the tweet below, which reflects the inflammatory rhetoric fueling the riots.
Everything took place a few pies of houses in the small town.
The riots continued for a second night Tuesday. The clashes between the demonstrators and the police begin in the evening, with water cannons in use and Small burning barricades destroyed by police vehicles.
A car is on fire Near parking Where the demonstrations started, while another is overturned and exhausted.
Later, several houses are burned. In a video, people seem to try to break the door of a neighboring house, while the people of the black masks put themselves.
On WednesdayThe Union Jack could be seen in the windows of several houses, while a manuscript sign in a window on board read “British Household”, all probably in order to ward off the looters. The riots continued in the evening.
A video published that day shows a man pulling what seems to be a fireworks on a line of police vehicles. The police then use water cannons on the rioters.
Police attacked fireworks in Ballymena after a second night of violence in Blymena.
Several cars and properties were burned in Ballymena while rioters have launched petrol bombs, fireworks and masonry in police. pic.twitter.com/fy8mubkisb
A man is launched in a video published Wednesday; We don’t know what.
We do not know if violence will propagate. Wednesday evening, masked rioters Set fire to a leisure center in Larne nearby This welcomed families fleeing the riots in Ballymena.
Events in Northern Ireland echo the violent 2024 anti-immigration riots This has spread through the United Kingdom and led to hundreds of arrests. These riots began in Southport, England, following the deadly stab wounds of three girls who would have been falsely claimed by a Muslim asylum seeker, while in fact the aggressor was Born in Wales.
“Although all our citizens have the right to engage in peaceful demonstrations, there can never be any justification for the violence that has occurred in recent days”, the ministers representing all the political parties of Northern Ireland said in a joint press release Wednesday.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer qualified attacks on “insane” police in the comments of Parliament.
