Alliance Party MLAs Eoin Tennyson and Danny Donnelly have been challenged in the Northern Ireland Assembly over donations they made to a US bail fund during the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests.

DUP member Phillip Brett, while condemning recent anti-immigration disorder, told the chamber on Monday that Alliance could not lecture others when its representatives had given money to a charity that bailed out individuals facing serious charges.

The donations were made in May 2020 following the murder of George Floyd. Mr Tennyson, then a councillor, posted on social media that he had donated to the Minnesota Freedom Fund to help those protesting. Mr Donnelly, also a councillor at the time, replied that he had done the same.

The fund, which states its mission is to pay bail for those who cannot afford freedom, received tens of millions in donations after Floyd's death. A Minnesota news report at the time noted it had bailed out defendants charged with violent crimes and murder, alongside efforts to address disproportionate incarceration of black people.

Alliance responded that the 2020 donation was intended to protect the rights of peaceful protesters and that politicians in Northern Ireland had no role in how the fund operated. The party said the issue had been taken out of context by bad faith actors online and was being used as a distraction from what it called racist thuggery on the streets.

During the same debate, Mr Tennyson rejected claims that the violence stemmed from legitimate immigration concerns. He described the events as hate marches driven by racism, citing evidence that participants were told online to wear masks and dark clothing.

Mr Brett maintained that the majority of those involved in protests had participated peacefully and should not be condemned.