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

Far-right anti-immigration demonstrations in Northern Ireland turn violent for a second night after stabbing attack.

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

Far-right anti-immigration demonstrations in Northern Ireland turn violent for a second night after stabbing attack.

Belfast anti-immigrant protesters

Anti-immigrant protesters clash with police at Antrim Road in Belfast. [Isabel Infantes/Reuters]

By AFP

and

Reuters

Published On 11 Jun 2026

Police 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.

Belfast anti-immigrant protesters

Riot police watch protesters near Newtownabbey, in Belfast. [Peter Morrison/AP Photo]

Belfast anti-immigrant protesters

Police stand guard during protests near a hotel north of Belfast. [Charles McQuillan/Getty Images]

Belfast anti-immigrant protesters

Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) Chief Constable Jon Boutcher says an additional 200 officers were on the streets on Wednesday. [Henry Nicholls/AFP]

Belfast anti-immigrant protesters

Politicians from all sides in Northern Ireland’s government have condemned the violence. [Isabel Infantes/Reuters]

Belfast anti-immigrant protesters

Police attempt to clear protesters near Newtownabbey in Belfast. [Peter Morrison/AP Photo]

Belfast anti-immigrant protesters

Police block a road to stop anti-immigrant protesters. [Isabel Infantes/Reuters]

Belfast anti-immigrant protesters

Protesters set fire to a barricade as police block Belfast's Antrim Road. [PA Images via Getty Images]

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