Northern Ireland gets police reinforcement from Scotland to fight anti-Muslim gangs – POLITICO

Claire Sugden, a Liberal trade unionist who sits as an independent, addressed a group of Muslim visitors in the gallery above.

“To those who have been targeted, I am so sorry that living here has left you feeling scared, intimidated and unsafe. I am ashamed,” she said.

Referring to the criminal practices of the UDA and UVF, she criticised hardline unionists for trying to “justify the behaviour” of militants who in turn encouraged young people in unionist areas to threaten immigrants and clash with police. “It is your community they are exploiting and your children they are manipulating.”

And Alliance’s Kate Nicholl, who came to Belfast as a white refugee from Zimbabwe at the age of 12, became emotional as she criticised unionists who were prepared to defend the “legitimate concerns” of gangs and rioters. She said it was “disgraceful” that they were blaming the relatively small immigrant community for wider problems with housing stock.

“We are here for racist crime, Islamophobia. We will talk about housing again. Please do not confuse them. It is negligent to do that. It is dangerous to do that,” she said.

Boutcher, the police chief, tried to reassure Muslim leaders by gathering imams from every mosque in Northern Ireland and promising to identify and prosecute every rioter. He noted that 16 had already been arrested and 11 charged, with a detailed review of police and closed-circuit video footage now beginning.