Twelve police officers injured in second night of Belfast violence as NI Secretary condemns 'violent thugs'
Police also made 12 arrests during the second evening of unrest on Wednesday after the alleged knife attack on Stephen Ogilvie
The Northern Ireland Secretary has hit out at scenes of "violent thuggery" witnessed during the second night of protests in Belfast as it emerged 12 police officers were injured.
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Hilary Benn told LBC that there was "no justification whatsoever" for the disorder, which saw bricks, wheelie bins and traffic cones launched by masked rioters towards police to the north of Belfast.
Mr Benn told Nick Ferrari at Breakfast: "Nothing, I repeat, nothing justifies the violent thuggery we have seen on the streets of Belfast."
Footage showed rioters wearing face coverings and all-black outfits, advancing towards police on Antrim Road in Newtownabbey, Co Antrim, and attempting to hit officers with bricks and other projectiles.
It followed similar scenes on Tuesday evening where Glider bus was set ablaze as hundreds descended on the city to protest.
It follows as Sudanese suspect Hadi Alodid was charged with the attempted murder Stephen Ogilvie after a suspected knife attack. He is also accused of threats to kill an NHS radiographer and possession of a knife.
However, Mr Benn confirmed 12 officers were injured during the unrest on Wednesday. It earlier emerged that 27 people had been made homeless due to the damage.
Mr Benn said: "What we saw the night before was completely unacceptable. Thugs burning people out of their homes because of the colour of their skin.
"This is not what Northern Ireland is about. This is not the great place that Northern Ireland is.
"Whatever concerns some people may have about immigration, and most importantly, the family of Stephen Ogilvie, who was so brutally attacked on Monday night, have said that they don't want to see this, but we all have a right to peacefully protest."
Riot police fired water cannons on protesters and videos shared on social media showed protesters attempting to march to the Chimney Corner Hotel.
The scenes of violence come despite the family Mr Ogilvie pleading for peace.
In a statement on Wednesday evening they said they "have been left feeling disgusted by the scenes that unfolded yesterday across Northern Ireland in the wake of what happened".
Asked by Nick what was being done to calm the public's concerns over immigration, Mr Benn said: "The people who have arrived, what are they doing? They may be working as nurses in one of the hospitals in Belfast.
"They may be surgeons operating on patients who are seriously ill. Plenty of them are working and working in industry."
He added: "Each individual case needs to be looked at. What happened on Monday night was one individual who has been charged with committing a terrible attack on Stephen Ogilvie, who's still recovering from the awful injuries he received.
"Ultimately, each individual is responsible for what they do."
Mr Benn also condemned the spreading of "disinformation" online leading to the scenes of disorder.
He said: "It's a very big issue indeed with targeting of particular addresses.
"The PSNI put out a warning that those who put particular addresses online encouraging people to go and attack those homes.
"The social media companies have a responsibility to ensure that that content is taken down."