On Tuesday night, Northern Ireland police deployed water cannons and plastic baton rounds to disperse a crowd of several hundred protesters who had gathered in the town of Ballymena, 25 miles (40 kilometers) north of Belfast. The violence unfolded during the second night of anti-immigrant unrest, which had been ignited the previous day by a sexual assault case involving two teenage boys. The incident began on Monday when a peaceful march was held to support the family of the victim of an alleged sexual assault. The demonstration escalated into a confrontation, leading to the arrest of two 14-year-old boys who were charged with the alleged crime. The suspects, who have not been identified due to their age, were supported by a Romanian interpreter in court, highlighting the multicultural context of the incident. The unrest saw demonstrators pelt police with bricks, bottles, and fireworks while setting vehicles alight. To quell the unrest, police used water cannons and baton rounds to disperse the crowd, resulting in a heavy-handed response to the violence. Assistant Chief Constable Ryan Henderson, who addressed the public, condemned the violence, stating it should be ‘loudly condemned by all right-thinking people.’ He emphasized that attempts to justify or explain the disorder as something else were misplaced. The police service reported that several houses were set on fire during the first night of the disorder, and 15 officers were injured. Despite the ongoing investigation into the incident, the police have vowed to identify those responsible for the racially motivated disturbances and bring them to justice, underscoring the gravity of the situation and the need for accountability.