Police have arrested 34 people in Dublin after riots over a knife attack calmed down on Sunday. Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar condemned the "worst riots in decades" as a "disgrace" to the country.
The Irish government held a meeting on the situation in the capital on the evening of the 24th. Justice Minister Helen McEntee said police were reviewing more than 6,000 hours of CCTV footage and were "certain" more arrests would be made.
The riots were sparked by a stabbing near a school in Dublin. On the afternoon of the 23rd, a man of about 50 years old stabbed 3 children and 1 woman with a knife, including a 5-year-old girl who is currently in critical condition. Some media said that the assailant was a foreign immigrant, and a small group of local anti-immigrant activists went to the scene to protest, causing riots as more and more people joined.
Many media reported that during the riot, some people smashed and ransacked shops, set fire to police cars and buses, and people clashed with the police and threw Molotov cocktails, resulting in many police officers injured, one of them seriously. One of Dublin's main streets near the scene was also affected.
After the riots subsided, a Reuters reporter saw shoppers and tourists reappear on the street on Sunday, and police deployed a large number of officers to stand guard next to looted shops and remove burned vehicles.
According to police, the assailant is being treated in hospital for injuries, and no motive has been ruled out, including possible involvement in terrorism. Police have so far not disclosed the nationalities of the suspects.
Irish Justice Minister McEntee and police chief Drew Harris on the 23rd both identified a number of ulterior motives to use the stabbing incident to create havoc. Harris later reported that at least 13 businesses were damaged or looted, 15 police cars, buses and trams were damaged, and many people were injured in a riot "unlike anything we have seen in decades."
Irish Prime Minister Varadkar also said at a press conference on the 24th that the level of unrest was "the worst in decades" and that those involved in the riots had "shamed Dublin, shamed Ireland, and shamed their families and themselves".
In a separate statement, he said the government would take immediate steps to tighten anti-hate laws and regulations, and planned to push for police officers to be allowed to use body cameras to adapt to the age of social media. "We will restore Ireland and take it back from the cowards who hide behind masks and try to intimidate us with violence."
Similar unrest is rare in Ireland, where the far right does not have a presence and no far-right parties or lawmakers are in parliament, but small anti-immigrant demonstrations have become more common recently, Reuters said.
Caio Benicio, 43, a Brazilian delivery man, and Aaron Loren-Guier, 17, a French chef, were prominent in subduing the assailant, according to multiple media reports. French President Emmanuel Macron's office said he had telephoned Lauren-Guier to thank him for his "courageous act".
"It seems like they all hate immigrants, but I'm also an immigrant and I did what I could to save that girl," Benicio told reporters.
