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Updated 14 hours ago
FIFTEEN POLICE OFFICERS were injured in what is described as sustained riots in a mainly loyal area of south Belfast that saw 13 and 14 year old teenagers arrested.
The officers were attacked by crowds after a local protest turned into an attack on officers after 8 p.m.
“A total of 15 officers were injured after being subjected to a sustained attack by rioters who threw various objects at the police, including heavy masonry, metal bars, fireworks and manhole covers. His injuries include burns, head and leg injuries, ”Belfast District Commander-in-Chief Simon Walls said this morning.
A total of eight arrests were made during the riots, seven men and one woman, and the PSNI said their ages ranged from 13 to 25.
“I call on everyone involved to stop this appalling behavior immediately,” Walls said.
“The police are trying to protect those who live in the Shaftesbury Square, Donegall Road and Sandy Row areas and it is completely unacceptable that my officers are being subjected to sustained attacks.
I understand that there are significant tensions and concerns in some communities. My job is to keep people safe and I would ask anyone who has any influence in communities, whether they are parents, guardians, community or elected representatives, please use that influence to ensure youth are kept safe and away. of any damage.
His comments were echoed by Stormont Justice Minister and Alliance leader Naomi Long, who said the words used by political leaders “have consequences.”
“This is in the best interest of no one, not the officers who deal with it, not the majority of young people who risk their future by participating in it.” she tweeted.
“It is up to the leaders to behave responsibly and reduce the inflammatory rhetoric of the last few days.”
Stormont Prime Minister Arlene Foster has urged young people “not to fall into disorder”, saying that violence “will not improve things.”
“I know that many of our youth are greatly frustrated by the events of this past week, but injuring police officers will not make things any better,” said the DUP leader.
I appeal to our young people not to be swept up in the disorder that will lead to criminal convictions and ruin their own lives. I also ask that parents play their part and be proactive in protecting their young adults.
Foster this week criticized the Northern Ireland Public Ministry’s decision not to prosecute 24 Sinn Fein politicians for attending Bobby Storey’s funeral during Covid-19 restrictions.
Foster had called for the PSNI chief of police to resign.
in a tweet that she had said: “Devastating result for public confidence in policing. There will be consequences. ”
Sinn Féin MP Paul Maskey said young people are “being used by sinister elements” and blamed the DUP for stoking tensions.
“The DUP and political unionism are failing working-class union communities through their dangerous and irresponsible rhetoric that continues to generate heightened tensions,” he said.
“This is a time of calm and responsible leadership.”
Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis described last night’s riots as “completely unacceptable”.
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The discomfort we saw last night is completely unacceptable. Violence is never the answer. There is no place for it in society. It is undesirable, unjustified and I fully support the PSNI’s call for calm.
My thoughts are with the wounded officers. @PoliceFedforNI @PoliceServiceNI
– Brandon Lewis (@BrandonLewis) April 3, 2021
The problem came after four consecutive nights of rioting in the unionist Waterside area of Derry.
There were further riots in Derry last night in the Nelson Drive area in which 12 PSNI officers were injured. Police say gasoline bombs and fireworks were used in the riots and also caused damage to a nursing home in the area.
Disorder has erupted amid continuing tensions within the loyalty in Northern Ireland.
Loyalists and trade unionists are angered by post-Brexit trade deals which they say have created barriers between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK.
Tensions escalated further this week following the decision on Bobby Storey’s funeral.
– With report by Rónán Duffy and Press Association
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