Thousands rally in Belfast to condemn anti-immigrant rioting that followed stabbing

Thousands of demonstrators gathered in Belfast on Saturday to denounce anti-immigrant rioters who set fire to homes and cars earlier in the week after a brutal stabbing blamed on an asylum seeker

Thousands of demonstrators gathered in Belfast on Saturday to denounce anti-immigrant rioters who set fire to homes and cars earlier in the week after a brutal stabbing blamed on an asylum seeker.

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The anti-racism rally came after nights of fiery violence in parts of Northern Ireland following the arrest of a 30-year-old man from Sudan on charges of attempted murder in a stabbing that left a man partly blind.

Protests turned violent when groups of masked men set fire to several homes they believed to house immigrants, torched a bus and pelted police with bricks, bottles and firebombs. More than two dozen people were left homeless and 12 police officers were injured in what officials called “thuggery.”