Violence erupts in Northern Ireland after stabbing attack

Protests against immigration turned violent in Northern Ireland after far-right activists called for demonstrations in response to a stabbing attack that was captured on video.

Crowds that included masked men burned vehicles and houses and blocked roads in and around Belfast on Tuesday night, hours after Elon Musk, Tommy Robinson and others urged people to take to the streets.

Protesters hijacked and burned a Glider bus on Newtownards Road in east Belfast and set cars on fire near Shankill Road and in Newtownabbey. Smoke rose from the fires while sirens sounded and a police helicopter hovered overhead.

The unrest began hours after police charged a 30-year-old asylum seeker from Sudan with attempted murder in connection with an attack in north Belfast on Monday night. The attack left a man in his 40s critically injured. The suspect is due to appear at Belfast magistrates court on Wednesday.

Ryan Henderson, the assistant chief constable, appealed for calm. “Sporadic pockets of disorder have broken out in a number of locations across Northern Ireland this evening, including incidents in which a number of vehicles have been set on fire,” he said. “We are urging everyone to remain calm, act responsibly, and avoid any activity that could place themselves or others at risk.”

Henderson also asked community leaders to encourage peaceful protest and discourage violence.

Northern Ireland’s first minister, Michelle O’Neill, condemned the violence and warned of “dangerous attempts to exploit” the attack. “Groups of masked men burning families out of their homes is nothing less than disgusting cowardice,” she said in a social media post. “This has nothing to do with community. This is outright thuggery.”

O’Neill also urged the public not to be swayed by social media calls for disorder. “For all of those people out there who are stoking up tensions in that social media space, who are happy to raise tensions, they do not represent us,” she said.

John Finucane, the Sinn Féin MP for North Belfast, called the scenes “shameful.” “There is no place for it on our streets,” he said. “Family homes and businesses attacked, cars and buses burned out, and parts of our community in flames.”

Naomi Long, the Alliance justice minister, said the demonstrators were “intent on wreaking destruction on the very communities they claim they are trying to protect.”

Groups of men, some wearing balaclavas, launched fireworks and set fires to bins, buses and houses. Near Shankill Road, a group stormed a home that appeared to be occupied by a family from an ethnic minority background, claiming to be “liberating” it.

Later on the Shankill Road, two phone shops were looted and an African shop was set on fire. Fire engines were stationed outside as firefighters worked in the rain.

Smaller protests took place in Antrim, Bangor and Ballymena, and two cars were set on fire in Newtownabbey. In London, about 60 protesters gathered in Parliament Square, calling police “traitors” and chanting about the murder of Henry Nowak and the Belfast stabbing.

Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, who refers to himself as Tommy Robinson, shared the video of the Belfast attack and called for protests in central London and elsewhere in the UK.

The stabbing occurred at about 10:30 p.m. on Monday outside a block of flats in north Belfast. Video showed a man straddling another man on the ground and striking at his head and neck. A kitchen knife was recovered from the scene. The victim suffered serious injuries to his eyes, face and back.

People intervened to stop the assault, including Maitiu Mag Tighearnan, who struck the attacker several times with a hurling stick.

In addition to attempted murder, the suspect was charged with possession of a blade in a public place and threats to kill.

Jon Boutcher, the chief constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland, said the suspect was granted leave to remain in the UK on 28 September 2023. He said the man traveled from Sudan to Paris, then flew to Dublin before taking a bus to Belfast on 10 February 2023, where he claimed asylum.

Boutcher said the suspect was not known to police and there was no indication the attack was terrorism-related. He urged people not to be incited by online calls to protest.

Sudanese business owners on Sandy Row closed their stores early and said they planned to stay home. The Belfast Islamic Centre cancelled evening prayers.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer called the attack sickening and said he had no tolerance for violence on the streets.

Elon Musk shared a list of potential protest areas and wrote that change would come only through repeated and loud protest. Reform UK’s home affairs spokesperson, Zia Yusuf, blamed the violence on immigration policy and said Reform had already called for a total ban on visas for anyone from Sudan.