Milano, June 11 (LaPresse) – A second night of anti-immigration protests and clashes in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Police used water cannons, while demonstrators set objects on fire and threw bricks, stones and bottles at officers. Riot police were targeted by a group of protesters throwing bricks, bottles and pieces of wood. The protests broke out after a Sudanese man in his 30s, identified as Hadi Alodid, was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder in connection with the brutal street stabbing of a man in his 40s, Stephen Ogilvie, who lost his left eye and suffered injuries to his neck and back as a result of the attack. The BBC reports that, despite the clashes, Wednesday night’s protests were not as large as those of the previous night, when several people had to flee their homes after, according to authorities, “some individuals went door to door trying to target foreign citizens”. Further violence overnight occurred despite calls for calm from the victim’s family. Following Tuesday night’s unrest, Stephen Ogilvie’s family had urged restraint: “We want to make it unequivocally clear that the night-time disturbances are not welcome and that peaceful protest is the only way forward,” the family said. “We have many migrants who make an extremely valuable contribution to our country, including in the healthcare system and the hospitality sector, and we depend on them for the functioning of our country,” they added, stressing that they did not want this “terrible tragedy to be used to divide people or fuel hostility.”
Belfast, second night of clashes in anti-migrant protests
Milano, June 11 (LaPresse) – A second night of anti-immigration protests and clashes in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Police used water cannons, while demonstrators set objects on fire and threw bricks, stones and bottles at officers. Riot police were targeted by a group of protesters throwing bricks, bottles and pieces of wood. The protests broke out after a Sudanese man in his 30s, identified as Hadi Alodid, was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder in connection with the brutal street stabbing of a man in his 40s, Stephen Ogilvie, who lost his left eye and suffered injuries to his neck and back as a result of the attack. The BBC reports that, despite the clashes, Wednesday night’s protests were not as large as those of the previous night, when several people had to flee their homes after, according to authorities, “some individuals went door to door trying to target foreign citizens”. Further violence overnight occurred despite calls for calm from the victim’s family. Following Tuesday night’s unrest, Stephen Ogilvie’s family had urged restraint: “We want to make it unequivocally clear that the night-time disturbances are not welcome and that peaceful protest is the only way forward,” the family said. “We have many migrants who make an extremely valuable contribution to our country, including in the healthcare system and the hospitality sector, and we depend on them for the functioning of our country,” they added, stressing that they did not want this “terrible tragedy to be used to divide people or fuel hostility.”
