South Belfast District Commander Superintendent Finola Dornan said: “During the course of a protest in the university area of south Belfast, our policing team responded to a number of public disorder offences on the afternoon of Thursday 14th November.
“During the course of managing the disorder, police arrested four men. Three of the men, aged 18, 20 and 21, have since been charged with resisting police. The 18-year-old man was also charged with obstructing police and the 21-year-old with obstructing police and assault on police. They are due to appear before Belfast Magistrates Court on 12th December. A fourth man, aged 57, was later released.
“The right to protest, freedom of speech and assembly are fundamental human rights. They are protected in law and allow individuals to engage in peaceful protest, balanced against the rights and protection of others. What was experienced yesterday cannot be described as peaceful in nature. In order to manage risks to the public and to our officers, additional resources, including tactical support officers were required, significantly over and above the initial local police deployment.
“A number of our officers were injured and this is unacceptable and without justification. In spite of these challenges, every effort was made to facilitate those engaging in peaceful protest to continue to express their views.
“A full investigation into the disorder yesterday has been launched. We will review footage with a view to identifying any other offences have been committed. I would encourage anyone with any information which could assist Police to contact us on 101 and quote reference 890 of 14/11/24.”
You can also report online here: https://www.psni.police.uk/report.