On Saturday May 2002, up to 800 people were involved in sectarian clashes beginning shortly after the Scottish Cup Final in which Rangers F.C.
[1] The PSNI fired 40 plastic baton rounds at rioters, which happened in and around Ardoyne, Crumlin Road and New Lodge.
DUP MP Nigel Dodds and Progressive Unionist Party Assembly member Billy Hutchinson blamed republicans for starting the trouble, while a Sinn Féin councillor said the trouble began when 12 loyalists attacked nationalist homes with iron bars, and blamed the Ulster Defence Association (UDA) for orchestrating it.
[1] On a second night of violence, pipe bombs were thrown at police and three officers were injured in the middle of confrontations between loyalists and nationalists.
[2] North Belfast had already seen tensions and violence up to that point in the year, including in both March and April 2002, the latter of which involved a bomb explosion.