‘Thuggery’: Belfast police fire water cannon at anti-immigration protests

play Live Sign upShow navigation menu.css-15ru6p1{font-size:inherit;font-weight:normal;}Navigation menuNewsShow more news sectionsAfricaAsiaUS & CanadaLatin AmericaEuropeAsia PacificMiddle EastExplainedOpinionWorld CupVideoMoreShow more sectionsFeaturesEconomySportHuman RightsClimate CrisisInvestigationsInteractivesIn PicturesScience & TechnologyPodcastsTravelplay Live Click here to searchsearchSign upIn Pictures Far-right anti-immigration demonstrations in Northern Ireland turn violent for a second night after stabbing attack. xwhatsapp-strokecopylinkgoogleAdd Al Jazeera on GoogleinfoAnti-immigrant protesters clash with police at Antrim Road in Belfast. [Isabel Infantes/Reuters]By AFP, AP and ReutersPublished On 11 Jun 202611 Jun 2026Police in Northern Ireland have fired water cannon at far-right protesters in Belfast as small fires were set and bricks, rocks and bottles were hurled during a second consecutive night of unrest over a stabbing on a city street. Demonstrators wearing masks prised bricks from walls outside homes and smashed pavements with sledgehammers to throw at riot police on Wednesday. The clashes with police came several hours after a 30-year-old man appeared at a Belfast court charged with attempted murder in a stabbing attack that has triggered anti-immigration violence. Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) Chief Constable Jon Boutcher said an additional 200 officers were on the streets on Wednesday and that the force was calling in support from other services. Politicians from both parties in Northern Ireland’s government condemned the violence. First Minister Michelle O’Neill of the Irish nationalist party Sinn Fein described it as “thuggery”. Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly of the pro-British Democratic Unionist Party says that “taking frustration at the evil actions of a person out on those who had no part in it is utterly wrong”. Hilary Benn, Britain’s minister for the province, also told Sky News on Thursday that the violence and days of anti-immigrant unrest were “racist thuggery”. Last week, a separate case involving a university student who was stabbed to death in Southampton, southern England, in December was seized on by activists and by US Vice President JD Vance, who blames immigration for the violence – an argument rejected by Prime Minister Keir Starmer and other British politicians. Show moreAbout UsCode of EthicsTerms and ConditionsEU/EEA Regulatory NoticePrivacy PolicyCookie PolicyCookie PreferencesAccessibility StatementSitemapWork for usConnectConnectShow moreContact UsUser Accounts HelpAdvertise with usStay ConnectedNewslettersChannel FinderTV SchedulePodcastsSubmit a TipPaid Partner ContentOur ChannelsOur ChannelsShow moreAl Jazeera ArabicAl Jazeera EnglishAl Jazeera Investigative UnitAl Jazeera MubasherAl Jazeera DocumentaryAl Jazeera BalkansAJ+Our NetworkOur NetworkShow moreAl Jazeera Centre for StudiesAl Jazeera Media InstituteLearn ArabicAl Jazeera Centre for Public Liberties & Human RightsAl Jazeera ForumAl Jazeera Hotel PartnersFollow Al Jazeera English: