A police car was set on fire and the police were targeted by projectiles hurled by a mob hostile to the media.
Five people, including three children, were injured following a knife attack in Dublin this Thursday night, which Irish police have already ruled out as an act of terrorism.
“Irish Lives Matter” posters [Vidas irlandesas importam, em português] And Irish flags were raised during these clashes, attended by hundreds of people.
Protests broke out in neighborhoods populated by migrants, in particular, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.
BREAKING: Irish rioters set fire to Holiday Inn Express hotel in Dublin. The government uses the hotel to house asylum seekers. pic.twitter.com/V1AG4KVcrK
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A police car was set on fire and the police were targeted by projectiles thrown by a mob hostile to the “mainstream media”.
Police Commissioner Drew Harris insisted the clashes were encouraged by “a sect of crazed hooligans driven by far-right ideology”.
“The facts are still unclear”, he said, rejecting “rumors and intrigues” spread for “malicious purposes”.
According to the first elements of the investigation, a man attacked several people this afternoon, local police chief Liam Geraghty told a press conference.
Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar has announced that a suspect has been arrested. According to police, he is a 50-year-old man who was admitted to the hospital.
Police are not looking for “anyone else”, assured Liam Geraghty, stressing that based on the first elements of the investigation, investigators have ruled out any terrorist motivation.
“It appears to be an isolated attack and we need to determine the reasons for that,” he explained, referring to the use of a knife.
“But we cannot provide more information about the nature of the injuries,” he added.
According to Irish media, the events took place near a school.
Five victims were taken to various hospitals in the Irish capital region.
“We are all shocked by the events at Parnell Square,” the Irish prime minister said in a statement, assuring that “the facts of this case are being clarified” and that “the emergency services responded very quickly to the scene.” In a few minutes.”
The victims were a man, a woman and three small children. A five-year-old girl and a woman in her 30s were seriously injured, police said.
The five-year-old boy has already been discharged from the hospital.
A witness, Siobhan Kearney, told Irish station RTE that the attacker was disarmed mainly with the help of a young man.
“Someone else had the knife” so it could be handed over to the police, he said.
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