Rush hour in Belfast on June 9th didn’t happen at the usual 5pm. By mid-afternoon offices, shops and government buildings started to empty. By teatime(下午茶时间（约下午5点）) Northern Ireland’s capital was more deserted(空无一人，荒废的) than on a public holiday.
6月9日，贝尔法斯特的晚高峰并未在通常的下午5点到来。到下午中段，办公室、商店和政府大楼便开始冷清。到下午茶时间，北爱尔兰首府比公共假日还要空旷。
The previous night a Sudanese refugee had been caught on video viciously stabbing a local man. Police captured(逮捕，捕获) the suspect almost immediately; his victim survived, remarkably(引人注目地，非常). Within hours, anonymous posts began spreading across the internet, advertising protest locations that evening. These were not so much invitations as threats to shut down(关闭，停止运作) much of Northern Ireland. They made clear that businesses were expected to close.
前一晚，一名苏丹难民被视频拍到在凶残地刺伤一名当地男子。警方几乎立即抓获了嫌疑人；受害者令人惊异地活了下来。几小时内，匿名帖子开始在网上散布，宣传当晚的抗议地点。这些与其说是邀请，不如说是威胁，旨在关闭北爱尔兰大部分地区。它们明确表示，商家应关门歇业。
It is a tactic that hardline(强硬的，不妥协的) protesters have repeatedly used in the region, to devastating effect(产生毁灭性效果). It brings things to a standstill(使一切陷入停顿). Before it was even dark, protesters had closed several arterial routes(主干道，要道) around Belfast. A Glider—the large bus-like vehicles in the city’s rapid transit system—was burnt out(烧毁，烧坏). Petrol bombs were thrown at police in Newtownabbey, north of the city. Several cars were burned. A police car was set alight(点燃，使燃烧) in Portadown, 40km south-west of Belfast. Riot police could do little(防暴警察无能为力).
这是强硬派抗议者在该地区反复使用的一种策略，效果极具破坏力。它让一切陷入瘫痪。天黑前，抗议者已封锁了贝尔法斯特周边的几条主干道。一辆Glider——市内快速公交系统中大巴般的车辆——被烧毁。城市北部的纽敦阿比，警察遭到汽油弹袭击。数辆汽车被烧毁。一辆警车在贝尔法斯特西南40公里的波塔当被点燃。防暴警察几乎无能为力。
