PSNI commander: ‘My heart is breaking’ for young people caught up in violence

Chief Superintendent Ryan Henderson, District Commander for Derry and Strabane, said young people had been “used, encouraged and cheered along by adults to attack the police” as officers moved in to make arrests at the city cemetery.

“Police came under attack in a very premeditated way, from both petrol bombs and masonry,” he said during an interview with the BBC.

“We were able to make a number of arrests in relation to that. You will have seen from the footage, and it breaks my heart to see it, as part of that premeditated violence young people were used, encouraged and cheered along by adults to attack the police.”

The senior officer continued: “Anyone who has seen the footage and has seen that the petrol bombs were clearly stored in advance, and the fact that young people were being encouraged to throw those petrol bombs shows that it was planned and organised. I don’t wish to speculate on that at the moment. Obviously we have a number of people arrested on terrorism offences. I want to reassure people that we have a team of detectives working on this right now.”

He also praised the officers forced to deal with the disorder, saying: “I’ve got to say police officers acted with great courage and determination to make those arrests and protect the community.

“Even under that attack they were able to do so in a way that reduced harm to themselves and harm to the community, so I just want to put on record that as the police commander I am very grateful to them for the courage they showed.”

On the timing of the arrests, the chief superintendent added: “It was assessed that was the most appropriate and safe time to intervene and, even then, officers came under attack. It shows that none of these decisions are easy and that there is risk attached to them.”