A number of missiles were thrown at police officers in Northern Ireland as public disorder broke out in the town of Ballymena, Co. Antrim.
The riots follow a protest over an alleged sexual assault case on Monday evening.
Police Service Northern Ireland reported damage to a number of properties. Chief superintendent Sue Steen said: “We are urging everyone to remain calm and to act responsibly. Violence and disorder will only place people at greater risk.
“Our priority is to keep the community safe, and I would appeal to everyone to work with us to bring calm to the area as quickly as possible.”
Social media footage showing plumes of fire and smoke near what appeared to be residential buildings, with police present at the scene. Another clip appeared to show a masked man throwing an object at police vans as a crowd looked on.
Hundreds of protesters initially gathered in Ballymena in response to a sexual assault case involving two teenage boys.
Police charged the teenagers, who can’t be identified due to their ages, with attempted rape after investigating a serious sexual assault on a teenage girl in the Clonavon Terrace area on Saturday evening. They appeared before Coleraine Magistrates Court earlier on Monday, and the charges were read to them by a Romanian interpreter.
Local media reported that people had initially gathered peacefully to support the family of the girl, but later in the evening several houses were attacked by masked youths, who could be seen kicking in doors.
Justice minister Naomi Long criticised violence against officers, saying: “I am absolutely appalled by the disturbing scenes in Ballymena yesterday evening during which PSNI officers were injured, residents terrorised, and properties damaged.”
She added: “There is absolutely no place in our society for such disorder and there can be no justification for it. I would appeal to those involved to seriously consider their actions and step back from this behaviour before someone is seriously injured or worse.”
North Antrim MP Jim Allister linked the violence to tensions growing over immigration in Ballymena.
He said: “Within Ballymena there have been rising concerns about the sheer scale of migration into the town and that would have been a factor in the wholly peaceful protest.
“All that to be distinguished from the wanton violence which then followed, with obviously a minority of that peaceful crowd wanting to take advantage of that to visit violence which wasn’t wanted or warranted, hence the scenes that we saw.
“It is very distressing to see scenes of violence on the streets of Ballymena.”
Mr Allister said tensions have been building in the town “for a considerable period of time”.
The MP said he had spoken to the family of the girl who was the victim of the alleged sexual assault, who did not want to see violent scenes.
He said: “Sadly the narrative has been diverted, and it has been diverted by those who wrongly and foolishly involved in violence and made the story something that what it otherwise should be.
“My message is the violence should stop. The concerns are there, I am certainly aware of them, I hear them and there needs now to be a period of calm and justice needs to take its course.”
Officers have advised motorists and pedestrians to steer clear of Clonavon Road until further notice.
