Replica of mosque set alight on bonfire condemned in Northern Ireland

A replica of a mosque set on a bonfire in Moygashel, a pro-British town near Belfast, was lit on Thursday night before police could remove it, after authorities and politicians condemned it as a “hate display.” The Reuters report says the structure was made on wooden pallets and erected a month after anti-migrant violence affected Belfast. Organisers said on Facebook it was scheduled for Friday in front of large crowds, but it was burned a day early while police prepared to secure the site. Police Chief Superintendent Norman Haslett said hate crime has no place in society, adding that if the bonfire had not been lit, officers would have seized the material as evidence. A 56-year-old man was charged with incitement to hatred and is set to appear in court on Friday. UK Northern Ireland minister Hilary Benn called the act “sickening and cowardly.”