A violent knife attack in Belfast, Northern Ireland has sparked ongoing anti-immigrant protests, leading to riots. Protesters not only set fires on the streets but also threw bricks, rocks, and bottles at the police. On Wednesday, water cannons were deployed by the police to disperse the violent demonstrators.
Online footage showed masked protesters pulling bricks off residential walls and hurling them at riot police; some even used dismantled fences as shields to evade police clearance.
According to reports from the Associated Press, the catalyst for this chaos was a brutal attack on June 8 in the Kinnaird community.
Sudanese man Hadi Alodid stabbed his neighbor Stephen Ogilvie multiple times, causing serious injuries. After bystanders intervened, Alodid was arrested by the police and charged with attempted murder.
On Wednesday, Alodid appeared in court in Belfast and was remanded in custody.
A detective in court accused Alodid of attacking his neighbor, NHS technician Ogilvie, with a knife, resulting in his left eye blindness and damage to his right eye; Alodid was found with a knife while being treated for hand injuries sustained during the attack and threatened to kill a hospital staff member.
The detective stated that when the police arrived at the crime scene, they found Alodid holding a kitchen knife pressed against the victim. After the incident, Alodid allegedly told a radiology technician at the hospital, “I have killed someone, not sure if he is dead… I will kill you.”
Alodid refused to hire a legal representative through an Arabic translator after the incident and has not yet entered a plea to the charges.
On Tuesday, masked men set multiple believed-to-be immigrant-occupied houses on fire, burned trash cans, torched a Belfast bus, and threw objects at the police. The police stated that they are prepared for more violent incidents.
Firefighters rescued several people from the burning houses, leaving over twenty people homeless.
Belfast resident Anselme Shima from the Congo reported seeing vehicles on fire near his home.
“I have lived on this street for nearly 10 years, had good relationships with my neighbors, but last night was a nightmare,” said Shima.
Chief Constable Jon Boutcher of the Northern Ireland Police stated that several families had been rescued and taken to the police station for safety, with one family carrying a baby.
According to Spain’s El Pais newspaper, the riots have resulted in five injuries and about a hundred people being investigated by the police.
Michelle O’Neill, the Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland, condemned the violent protests as “disgusting cowardly acts.”
UK Prime Minister Starmer expressed zero tolerance for attacks on individuals based on their backgrounds.
Following the incident, UK Member of Parliament and leader of the right-wing party Restore Britain, Rupert Lowe, strongly condemned the knife attack which sparked the riots and criticized the UK government’s current immigration policy.
On Thursday, Rupert Lowe took to social media platform X to say, “Daily Mail just revealed that the suspect in the Belfast knife attack received asylum in the UK through a controversial ‘fast-track’ scheme… This is treason, and ministers Robert Jenrick and Suella Braverman must face serious questioning.”
The day before, in a video speech, Lowe called for mass deportations of illegal immigrants to restore a “high-trust society.”
He stated, “First, we plan to abolish the entire asylum system while dealing with the catastrophic consequences of uncontrolled immigration. Second, we intend to expel all illegal immigrants and those who should not have been here in the first place.”
On June 9, world’s richest person Musk disclosed on X the protest rally location announced by UK right-wing anti-Islam activist Tommy Robinson. Musk stated, “Only by protesting repeatedly and loudly can bring change!”
Regarding accusations from UK political figures that Musk is “inciting racial violence in Belfast,” Musk later retweeted a post, which stated: “It’s not social media, not Musk… not the ‘far right’ that ‘stirred tensions’. It’s the highly deliberate, uncontrolled mass migration and open border policy. This policy must end, or it will destroy Western countries.”
Musk’s remarks sparked strong backlash from the left-wing in the UK but also gained support from some anti-immigration policy advocates.