The PSNI “must do more” to tackle racist mob violence on the streets of Belfast after a “deplorable” attack on migrants in their cars, Sinn Féin has said.
Local representatives in east Belfast have said PSNI officers “should have intervened” when two vehicles driven by migrant workers were surrounded and attacked by a group of men at Connswater Retail Park on Monday.
Video footage of the incidents were widely shared on social media and have sparked widespread condemnation, following weeks of vigilante patrols targeting migrants in east Belfast.
The PSNI is treating the incidents as racially motivated hate crimes, while a spokesperson said its officers were in attendance at Connswater during the attack, as part of an “evidence gathering operation” and would review evidence to determine if any offences were committed.
Brian Smyth, Green Party councillor on Belfast City Council, says police should have intervened and fears someone will be killed as a result of a rise in racist hate crimes and vigilante groups in east Belfast.
A spokesperson for Sinn Féin said the PSNI “must do more” to stop racist attacks and make arrests.
“This was a deplorable attack by thugs in Connswater Retail Park and another example of the disgusting and sporadic racist violence which we have seen across the city,” a party spokesperson said.
“Vigilante violence is unacceptable and has no place in society and is wrong and it must stop immediately.
“Police must do more to stop these incidents, arrest and urgently bring those involved before the courts.”
Mr Smyth told The Irish News that PSNI officers should have intervened.
“If a car is being attacked, get in there,” he said.
“If there is an attack on a car in plain sight, go in and arrest.
“The onus is now on the police. The public are rightly outraged at this, there needs to be people arrested.
“The police need to be intervening, but we also know that the police are desperately underfunded. These groups know that and exploit it.
“We allow things to bubble and build until they become a fully blown crisis. What we witnessed on Monday night in that car park was an attempt at a racial lynching.”
Mr Smyth added that people from migrant backgrounds and those who have lived in east Belfast are “living in terror in their homes” as racist gangs patrol the streets in parts of the city.
A senior PSNI officer did not respond directly to questions over whether officers should have intervened during the Connswater incident, but said the force will increase its presence in the area to “engage, challenge and monitor these groups and provide reassurance to the community”.
“The activity of these individuals has been generating fear in the community and it has to stop,” PSNI East Belfast Chief Inspector Louise Dunne said.
“They are confronting and intimidating innocent members of the public, largely on the basis of the colour of their skin.
“Those involved have neither the legal nor the moral authority to do this. It is the responsibility of the police service to enforce the law.
“These groups are not protecting the community from anything. In reality these groups are frustrating our efforts to provide a policing service to the people of east Belfast by forcing us to redirect our limited resources to monitoring them. I urge everyone involved in this type of activity to stop.”
