Third night of anti-immigrant violence hits Northern Ireland town

FRANCE 24 English

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00:00Riot police formed a wall of armoured vans

00:05as they braced for a third straight night of violence in Ballymena.

00:09Again, angry mobs threw projectiles and lit fires,

00:13but it was significantly calmer than the previous nights in the Northern Ireland town

00:18when houses and businesses were torched and police officers were injured.

00:23The riots broke out on Monday after two teenage boys appearing in court

00:27on sexual assault charges asked for a Romanian interpreter.

00:31Police have not confirmed the ethnicity of the accused,

00:35but they say the motivation for the violence is racist, pure and simple.

00:40In the light of day, some people in Ballymena were unapologetic.

00:45Yes, it is a bit extreme in what we're doing,

00:48but it is to try and send a message saying that we do need to do it

00:51and to defend our own people.

00:53It's leaving immigrants of all nationalities living in fear,

00:57like these Filipino couples who fled with a young child

01:00after rioters targeted their home.

01:02Some of the locals, they say you're not the target,

01:06but we're scared about that because we don't know them,

01:12and then also we don't know them, also me.

01:16We're just a victim here, not the target.

01:22So we came here to give my family a better life.

01:28Then this happened.

01:32On Wednesday, the rampage spread beyond Ballymena.

01:37In the town of Larne, 30 kilometres east,

01:40a masked mob attacked and torched a community leisure centre

01:44that was sheltering people who had escaped the rioting.

01:47In a region that's no stranger to sectarian attacks,

01:50the violence has drawn condemnation from leaders

01:53from across the political spectrum.

01:55so close everyone can have a house

02:02where they are women at.

02:04They were very generous as well as the horrible fur

02:14and theómoкретATA test should not stand.

02:16So we made them out.

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