Police in the North have launched several investigations after another night of far-right unrest in the North – including a shocking incident where a petrol bomb was thrown at a mosque.
The petrol bomb incident took place in the early hours of this morning at a mosque in Newtownards, County Down.
Police were informed that racist graffiti had been sprayed on the front doors and walls of the mosque.
A petrol bomb had also been thrown inside but did not ignite.
In a statement, Chief Inspector Hutchinson from the PSNI said that “This is being treated as a racially motivated hate crime and I want to send a strong message to those who carried this out, that this type of activity will not be tolerated and any reports of hate crime are taken very seriously.”
“I am appealing to anyone with any information or footage that could assist with enquiries to come forward and help to identify those responsible and put them before the courts.”
There were a number of other incidents in the North also believed by Police to be racially-motivated hate crimes carried out by far-right rioters.
According to Police a number of cars were set alight in Tavanagh Street and Sandhurst Gardens in Belfast and both are being treated as racially-motivated hate crimes.
They are also investigating an incident where it’s alleged that the rear door of a restaurant on the Ormeau Road was kicked, and racial slurs shouted to the workers inside.
Five people were arrested in connection to the disorder last night, bringing the total number of arrests made by Police during the far-right riots to 31.
