The Police Service of Northern Ireland are on the lookout for fourteen youths they say were involved in rioting in the city on the twelfth of July.
Photographs of the wanted youths and young men were released today following days of trouble in Ardoyne.
Among the serious offenses committed against the police were a shotgun being fired at an officer, masonry dropped on officers and bullets fired at PSNI lines. Petrol bombs, blast bombs, bricks and bottles were all used by the rioters in their vicious struggle with the police on the highly politically charged day.
“This sort of behavior is not to be tolerated,” said Detective chief inspector Alan Little, adding that the rioters were putting the whole community as well as police officers at risk by their rioting.
Over 80 officers were injured in the riots which were sparked, as usual, by tensions around the infamous 12th of July period, which is a traditional time of unrest in Northern Ireland as Orangemen parade through the city celebrating an ancient military victory.
Authorities are taking the crimes very seriously though. Over 100 hours of CCTV footage as well as countless still photographs are being analyzed by the police service in order to identify the culprits for the violence and ultimately to bring them to justice.
The youngest arrested rioter was just 15 years old, a fact which shocked police: “There have been people pushing the children forward into dealing with this. They are not worried about these children getting criminal records,” said the police officer.
Police have established an inquiry line so anybody with information can contact them.
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