How a Northern Irish town descended into 3 days of anti-immigrant violence

Protests in the small Northern Irish town of Ballymena spiralled into acts of anti-immigrant violence this week after two teenagers who spoke Romanian were charged with sexually assaulting a local girl.

For three nights, masked rioters burned homes and vehicles in what Ryan Henderson, assistant chief constable for the Police Service of Northern Ireland, called “racist thuggery, pure and simple,” leading to multiple arrests and dozens of injuries.

The violence follows the arrest of two 14-year-old boys accused of the attempted rape of a teenage girl. Both of the accused made a court appearance on Monday, where they spoke through a Romanian interpreter. (Police announced a third arrest related to the case Tuesday.)

The incident sparked the simmering anti-immigrant sentiment in Ballymena, where nearly 5,000 of the 31,000 residents were born outside of Britain, Ireland or Northern Ireland, according to census data.

In Northern Ireland’s overall population, ethnic or racialized groups make up just 3.4 per cent of Northern Ireland’s overall population, compared to Ballymena’s 16 per cent.

More than 30 officers were injured after being attacked with firebombs and bricks over three nights, and a dozen people in and around Ballymena have been arrested so far.

The riots have had a significant effect on immigrants to the town.

“I have to save my children,” said one Bulgarian woman, adding she has lived in Ballymena for nearly 10 years. But after her family home was targeted by rioters, the family plans to leave.

How it unfolded

The rampage has played out on social media, across hundreds of tweets, videos and images cataloguing the days of rioting. CBC’s visual investigations team has collected and verified footage to show how this small town descended into violence. 

On Sunday, a day after the alleged rape, a Facebook post circulated in the local community, telling people to gather at a local spot known as Ken’s car park at 7:30 p.m. Monday local time to “show their anger.”

A peaceful vigil began on Monday night in support of the alleged victim, with Ballymena Deputy Mayor Tyler Hoey expressing support for the demonstrators. But the event quickly devolved, with hundreds swarming the streets, reportedly targeting the homes and businesses connected to foreigners.

Before sunset, which would be some time before 10 p.m., barricades are set ablaze near a church, with police nearby. 

Soon after, masked people can be seen smashing windows of homes near the church, which can be seen in the first video in the below tweet, which reflects the inflammatory rhetoric fuelling the riots. 

It all took place within a few blocks of the small town. 

The riots continued for a second night on Tuesday. Clashes between protesters and police begin in the evening, with water cannons in use and small burning barricades destroyed by police vehicles. 

One car is lit on fire near the parking lot where the protests first began, while another is flipped over and burned out.

Later, multiple homes are set on fire. In one video, people appear to be attempting to break down the door of a neighbouring house, while people in black masks mill around.

On Wednesday, the Union Jack could be seen in the windows of several homes, while a handwritten sign in one boarded-up window read “British household,” all presumably in an effort to ward off looters. Riots continued in the evening.

A video posted on that day shows a man firing what appears to be a firework at a line of police vehicles. Police then use water cannons on the rioters.

A man is set on fire in a video posted on Wednesday; it’s unclear from what. 

It’s unclear whether the violence will spread. On Wednesday night, masked rioters set fire to a leisure centre in nearby Larne that was hosting families fleeing the rioting in Ballymena.

The events in Northern Ireland echo the violent 2024 anti-immigration riots that spread across the U.K. and led to hundreds of arrests. Those riots began in Southport, England, following the fatal stabbing of three girls that was falsely claimed to have been carried out by a Muslim asylum seeker, when in fact the perpetrator was born in Wales. 

“While all of our citizens have the right to engage in peaceful protest, there can never be any justification for the violence that has taken place in recent days,” ministers representing every political party in Northern Ireland said in a joint statement on Wednesday. 

U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer called the attacks on police officers “mindless” in comments to Parliament.