Officers reported a profound sense of cultural loss as they doused rioters who had abandoned traditional Catholic-Protestant violence to hurl bricks at immigrants.
BELFAST — Police forces deployed water cannons late Tuesday night against a mob of protesters who had tragically abandoned the city's rich heritage of sectarian violence to participate in a mundane, imported brand of anti-immigrant rioting.
The air along Donegall Road smelled faintly of scorched synthetic sportswear and stale Tennent's lager, mingling with the cold mist from the high-pressure hoses. Brick fragments, chipped from the red Victorian facades, lay scattered across the wet tarmac like discarded teeth.
For decades, local law enforcement could rely on a predictable, deeply rooted hatred between Catholics and Protestants to dictate the choreography of the city's unrest. Tuesday's violence, however, was sparked by a local stabbing and fueled by a globalized, secular xenophobia. The shift left many veteran officers feeling culturally adrift as they dutifully battered the unified crowds with high-velocity water.
It is genuinely disheartening to see the youth turn their backs on four hundred years of bespoke religious animosity just to chase a trendy, homogenized prejudice they saw on the internet.
By midnight, the small trash fires had been extinguished and the rioters dispersed, leaving the avenues silent save for the hum of idling armored Land Rovers. Officers quietly returned their heavy equipment to the depot, holding out a quiet hope that, come marching season, the local youth might rediscover the traditional, locally sourced bigotry of their forefathers.