BELFAST, June 9 (Reuters) - Masked men burned families out of their homes in Belfast in a wave of anti-immigrant violence on Tuesday night after a Sudanese man was charged over a knife attack, Northern Ireland's First Minister Michelle O’Neill said.
Hundreds of protesters, many with their faces covered, attacked police and burned vehicles in a number of locations across Northern Ireland after a video of the knife attack, which left one person with serious neck and head wounds, went viral.
A number of homes could be seen burning in the city on Tuesday evening. Video broadcast by the BBC showed police helping a family escape from a burning house.
"There can be no excuse and no justification for these attacks tonight," O’Neill said in a statement. "Groups of masked men burning families out of their homes is nothing less than disgusting cowardice."
'SICKENING' KNIFE ATTACK TRIGGERS VIOLENCE
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer described the initial knife attack, which took place in north Belfast late on Monday evening, as "sickening".
The attack, which is currently not being treated as terrorism, comes at a time of heightened tensions in Britain following the murder of a student who was handcuffed by police as he lay dying from stab wounds after his killer, a Sikh man, falsely alleged a racist attack.
It also follows repeated protests about immigration, with populist parties saying Britain's asylum policy had allowed dangerous men into the country. There was anti-immigrant rioting in Northern Ireland last year amid anger over an alleged sexual assault.
VEHICLES BURNED ACROSS THE CITY
Masked youths gathered at points across Belfast early on Tuesday evening, with police responding by deploying armoured vehicles. Protesters set fire to a number of vehicles across the city, including a bus in east Belfast.
The BBC reported that a crowd of 100 men kicked in doors and broke windows of homes on a street in east Belfast.
"They're getting put out just because they're black," Pastor Jack McKee told the BBC after attacks on homes in the north of the city.
The suspect in the stabbing, a 30-year-old Sudanese national, was charged on Tuesday evening with attempted murder, possession of an article with a blade or point in a public place and threats to kill.
He is due to appear at Belfast Magistrates' Court on Wednesday.
The victim, a man in his 40s, suffered significant injuries to his eyes and slash wounds to his face and back during the "brutal" attack, with a kitchen knife found at the scene, Northern Ireland's Assistant Chief Constable Ryan Henderson said.
Footage showed a number of members of the public trying to fight off the attacker before police arrived, and they were credited by senior officers with saving the man's life.
Northern Ireland's main political party leaders jointly condemned the attack, calling it "horrific", and also called for calm, saying disturbances would only damage their communities.
(Reporting by Amanda Ferguson in Belfast and Conor Humphries in Dublin; Writing by Michael Holden and Sam Tabahriti; Editing by Kate Holton, Alex Richardson, Gareth Jones, Nia Williams and Lincoln Feast.)
