Sky News descended into chaos after a reporter was ambushed in a Belfast riot live on air, as the segment was pulled from the airwaves. On Wednesday (June 10), broadcaster Tom Parmenter opened the show from the heart of the Irish city where a violent protest was taking place. Standing metres behind the police cordon, he shared some of the measures officers have taken to disperse the protesters.

More than five police vans were visible behind him, surrounding a raging fire in the middle of the street, with a wave of people seen at the protests behind him. Sharing the latest updates as they unfolded, he began: “There is a barrage of missiles being thrown over these police lines towards us.

“It is very tense, it’s a stand-off now to try and push them away from here. There is a property not too far from here that’s previously been the site of protests surrounding its use as a hotel to try to make sure those protests are happening.”

As he reported on the conflict, two locals were seen walking towards the presenter and the camera crew, holding their phones and shouting over him. As they got closer, the woman demanded to know if the Sky News reporter was covering the protests “fairly and properly” before encouraging him to “be brave” and report from the heart of the conflict.

She fumed: “I hope that you’re reporting fairly and properly when the police came on. Somebody tried to gouge his eyes out. I hope that you’re reporting on why Northern Ireland is erupting, because they are fed up with the likes of Sinn Féin inviting undocumented men into their country.

“Why are you wearing a crash helmet? Get down the front and be brave,” she urged. It was at this point that the report fell silent as the cameraman panned to the ground. Producers then pulled the segment, and the show returned to the news anchors in the studio.

They told viewers: “Just appreciate that Tom is being accosted there. Someone wanted to give their views. We’ll come back to Tom in a minute and obviously keep an eye on that situation with the water cannon.”

It didn’t take long before viewers flocked to X – formerly known as Twitter – to share their thoughts on the TV ambush online. Presenter Dan Wooton praised the individual who interrupted the live broadcast, posting: “Brilliant! A brave independent reporter has just ambushed Sky News live on air in Belfast and demanded they start reporting the truth. They gutlessly cut back to the studio…”

Another praised: “Well done that lady!! And to avoid any confusion about the wording used by the studio, here is the definition of accosted: ‘To go up to somebody and speak to them, especially in a way that is rude, threatening or frightening’. [Thinking emoji]. Not sure I witnessed that from the lady!”

A third fumed: “Water cannons, though! Water cannons on their own people for protesting because one of their own people was nearly beheaded! It’s nuts!”