In Northern Ireland, police in Belfast deployed water cannons to quell a second night of anti-immigration riots. Sixteen people were arrested. Twelve police officers were injured. The unrest began earlier this week after an asylum seeker from Sudan was charged with attempted murder in a stabbing attack.
In recent days, masked men have been seen attempting to burn families out of their homes. In one incident, four masked men reportedly chased a nurse of color into the Ulster Hospital. Hilary Benn, the U.K. Northern Ireland secretary, condemned the violence as “racist thuggery.” Benn said a “sense of terror and fear” has spread among immigrant families in the area.