A bus has been set on fire in Belfast as hundreds of people took to the streets in protest after a Sudanese asylum seeker was charged with attempted murder following a suspected knife attack in the city.
The demonstration erupted shortly after the man — who entered Northern Ireland by crossing the Irish border — was charged in connection with the attack, which left a victim fighting for his life with serious wounds to his face, neck and back after bystanders intervened to overpower the attacker on Kinnaird Avenue in north Belfast on Monday night.
The burning of the bus marked a significant escalation in tensions that authorities had been warning about since the attack, with politicians and community leaders spending the past 24 hours publicly urging residents not to allow far-right agitators to exploit the incident for their own ends.
The disorder is likely to intensify pressure on the authorities over the suspect’s immigration status and how he came to be in Northern Ireland. The fact that he entered via the Irish border will reignite longstanding concerns about the movement of individuals across what remains an open land border and the implications for security in both Northern Ireland and the wider United Kingdom.
Police and political leaders had appealed for calm ahead of tonight’s protests, with Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn warning that while the right to peaceful protest must be respected, nobody has the right to engage in disorder and violence.
This article will be updated as more information becomes available.
