Belfast, United Kingdom. Masked men attacked homes and set fires across Belfast on Tuesday night in anti-immigrant violence that followed charges against a Sudanese man over a knife attack. Northern Ireland’s First Minister Michelle O’Neill condemned the attacks, saying there was no excuse or justification for families being burned out of their homes.
Violence across Belfast
Hundreds of protesters, many with their faces covered, attacked police and set fire to vehicles at multiple locations across Northern Ireland after video of the knife attack spread online. Several homes were seen burning in Belfast on Tuesday evening.
BBC footage showed police helping a family escape from a burning building. A crowd of around 100 men reportedly kicked in doors and broke windows on a street in east Belfast, while a bus was set alight in the east of the city.
Pastor Jack McKee told the BBC, after attacks on homes in the north of the city, that people were being forced out “just because they’re black.”
Political response
O’Neill described the attacks as “disgusting cowardice” and said groups of masked men burning families out of their homes could not be justified.
Northern Ireland’s main political party leaders jointly condemned both the knife attack, which they called “horrific,” and the subsequent violence. They appealed for calm and warned that the disturbances would damage their own communities.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer described the knife attack as “sickening.”
Charges over knife attack
The suspect, a 30-year-old Sudanese national, was charged on Tuesday evening with attempted murder, possession of an article with a blade or point in a public place, and threats to kill. He is due to appear at Belfast Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday.
The knife attack took place in north Belfast late on Monday evening. The victim, a man in his 40s, suffered significant injuries to his eyes and slash wounds to his face and back in what Northern Ireland’s Assistant Chief Constable Ryan Henderson described as a “brutal” attack. A kitchen knife was found at the scene.
Footage showed members of the public attempting to fight off the attacker before police arrived. Senior officers said their intervention helped save the victim’s life. Police said the attack is not currently being treated as terrorism.
Wider tensions
Police deployed armoured vehicles across Belfast as masked youths gathered at multiple points in the city.
The unrest comes amid heightened tensions in Britain following the murder of a student who was handcuffed by police as he lay dying from stab wounds, after his killer, a Sikh man, falsely alleged a racist attack. It also follows repeated protests over immigration policy, with populist parties arguing that Britain’s asylum system had allowed dangerous individuals into the country. Anti-immigrant rioting also took place in Northern Ireland last year amid anger over an alleged sexual assault.
