Rioting in Belfast on Wednesday night was on a scale not seen in Northern Ireland for years, police have said. During several hours of violence, police officers were attacked, petrol bombs were thrown and a bus was burnt. Eight officers were injured at an interface between loyalist and nationalist areas in west Belfast. Northern Ireland's power-sharing executive said it was "gravely concerned" by recent street violence and has called for calm to be restored.

Liberal MP Sponsors Petition Calling For Criticism of Police to be Classified as a Form of Hate Speech
Anti-hate groups say using hate speech laws to shield police from public criticism would be “extremely inappropriate”