Masked thugs caused chaos on the streets of Belfast for a second night, with police pelted by bricks and a petrol bomb and multiple vehicles set on fire, following a brutal stabbing in the city centre. The suspect in the stabbing attack, Sudanese national Hadi Alodid, 30, has been remanded in custody for four weeks after being charged with attempted murder, threats to kill an NHS radiographer and possession of a knife.
Anti-immigration protests began in Belfast on Tuesday night with homes, cars and a bus torched and non-white residents targeted. The unrest spread elsewhere in Northern Ireland, with a masked rioter setting himself alight as he attempted to throw a petrol bomb in Portadown. A water cannon was deployed by police after around 200 masked youths attempted to march on a migrant hotel in Newtownabbey, after a nearby lorry at a roundabout was torched.
Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn called the rioting "racist thuggery", saying it is unacceptable that people are being targeted because of the colour of their skin. The court was told the stabbing victim, Stephen Ogilvie, 40s, has lost his left eye. His family say he is in a stable condition and urged people to stop spreading "false information". The family added they had been left "feeling disgusted" by the recent disorder.
Former Northern Ireland Secretary Dame Theresa Villiers branded the racist attacks repulsive and said: "It's not who we are as a country." She warned disorder could last for several days, adding: "I think the motivations will vary amongst the rioters, but for some it's just sheer wickedness, they get a thrill from going out and causing violent disorder."
Cabinet Office minister Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent told the House of Lords that 27 people were made homeless on Tuesday night “because people went door-to-door to try and target foreign nationals to burn them out of their homes”. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer vowed to “crack down on anyone who is fuelling this division”. Social media platform X is among those contacted by Ofcom about online content potentially linked to the violence.
