PSNI chief Jon Boutcher tells Muslims ‘we are here to protect you’

The chief constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) has labelled those involved in violence on the streets of Belfast as “thugs and criminals listening to misinformation”.

In a direct message to Muslim communities in Northern Ireland Mr Boutcher pledged that PSNI officers would be “standing beside you”.

“We will be standing in harms way,” he said in the video message issued by his force on its YouTube channel.

“I want to assure you they every officer in the Police Service of Northern Ireland is here to look after you. We’re here to protect you.”

The chief constable said he and other officers attended a meeting at a mosque in Belfast with leaders of all of the mosques across Northern Ireland, where he had listened to concerns.

“It’s clear to me that you are living in fear,” he said.

He said Muslims had been subject to the “most hateful and criminal behaviours towards you as a community by people who are from some right-wing ideology that makes absolutely no sense to me whatsoever”.

He said where racist attacks took place it was important to “leave this to the police”.

“We will deal with it when it happens and we will deal with it by gathering evidence and going getting those responsible and bringing them before the courts,” he promised.