A landlord in Ballymena has described a "campaign of hate" against him and his Filipino tenants after six cars were set on fire in a racist attack on Sunday night. Sam Carson spoke out following the arson attack in the Co Antrim town, which destroyed vehicles belonging to tenants on his property.
Police received reports of the incident at about 10:10pm in the Lisnevenagh Road area. A police spokesperson said: "We received a report at about 10.10pm that six vehicles had been set alight and were destroyed. Our inquiries are ongoing and, at this time, we are treating this as arson with a racially-motivated hate element."
The attack represents the latest in a series of racist crimes across Northern Ireland. Ballymena suffered several nights of racist violence earlier in the summer.
Landlord describes panic and chaos
Carson told PA news agency that a tenant alerted him to the attack in a panicked state. "On Sunday evening I was alerted by a tenant who came running in a panicked situation that we were under attack," he said. "I wasn't sure what he meant but when I came out I found the vehicles burning, six vehicles were burning."
He described scenes of chaos as residents feared for their safety. "There was great pandemonium and panic because we didn't know if the house was burning, we didn't know what was happening. It was just chaos," Carson said. He believes the attack targeted his Filipino tenants, who have lived on the property for two and a half years with valid visas.
Carson revealed that an online harassment campaign began after riots in June. "Since that happened there has been a campaign of hate against me and my tenants," he said. "The first post was in June. It said there is a man who brings in illegal immigrants, a totally wrong fictitious allegation."
Tenants describe terror of attack
One tenant, who wished to remain anonymous, described being woken by their roommate during the attack. "I thought the house is burning, that there was a fire inside the house, but I went outside and saw the cars burning, from the house the fire looked higher than the car," they told PA.
The tenant explained their fear during the incident: "We panicked, we saw the fire extinguisher in our house, our roommate got it to put the fire out. We were scared in case the car exploded." They emphasised their peaceful intentions: "We live here peacefully. We don't know why they have attacked us. I came here to work. We pay taxes, our purpose here is to go to work to get a better future for our family."
Political condemnation follows attack
Sinn Fein MLA Philip McGuigan called the incident "absolutely outrageous" and part of "disgraceful, evil and reprehensible racist attacks". UUP MLA Jon Burrows described it as a "disgraceful attack on law abiding and hard-working people who make a significant contribution to the local economy."
North Antrim MP Jim Allister highlighted the dangerous nature of the attack. "Six cars were deliberately set alight while the tenants were inside, a situation that could have tragically resulted in serious injuries or worse," he said. Allister stressed that the tenants are in Northern Ireland legally and contributing to the local economy.
Police have appealed for anyone with information to contact them on 101, quoting reference number 1473 31/08/25.
Sources used: "PA Media" Note: This article has been edited with the help of Artificial Intelligence.
