Jon Boutcher spoke for the overwhelming majority this week when he hit out at “cowardly” voices seeking to bring crowds onto streets for anti-Islamic and immigrant protests.
The chief constable was responding at the Policing Board after it emerged that calls were circulating on social media for demonstrations in Belfast and several other towns today.
It comes as a wave of protests are expected in cities across Britain in the wake of the murders of three children in a shocking knife attack in Southport on Monday.
Dozens of people have already been arrested after violence broke out in Southport and spread to several other areas of England over recent days.
In a grim development, threats against Islamic places of worship have also prompted hundreds of mosques to strengthen security as Muslim leaders speak of “palpable fear” of being targeted.
While the right to peaceful protest is a fundamental freedom in any democracy, it is clear that malevolent forces are seeking to exploit the Southport tragedy to spread hate and suspicion against ethnic and religious minorities and trigger violent confrontations with police.
Those organising far-right protests have been warned that they are being monitored, while Sir Keir Starmer has said orders introduced for football hooligans could help restrict movement.
The demonstrations have been fuelled by false claims spread online about the identity of the 17-year-old suspect in the Southport stabbings, including that he was an asylum seeker.
It is clear that social media companies must do much more to counter misinformation – “poisonous nonsense”, as Mr Boutcher put it – including banning those inciting hatred.
Political leaders, including Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, also have a duty to avoid any words that risk inflaming tensions.
Statements by Catholic and Protestant Church leaders expressing solidarity with those from other cultures demonstrate the leadership that is required, as do calls by Mick Lynch for the trade union movement to be active in affected communities.
The PSNI has said it is aware of the calls for protests today, including to “block roads using women and children” and march on an Islamic centre in Belfast.
It remains to be seen how many people turn out, but a spate of abhorrent, racially-motivated attacks on properties in recent weeks show that the wider problem cannot be wished away.
This week’s protests, and the growth of anti-immigrant rhetoric in the Republic and across Europe, represent a dangerous turn backwards for society and one that requires all who value peace and tolerance to stand in solidarity with our neighbours and against bigotry in all its forms.
