BELFAST, Northern Ireland — A Sudanese man, age 30, is scheduled to appear before a Belfast court facing attempted murder charges in connection with a brutal knife attack that seriously wounded a victim and sparked violent anti-immigrant demonstrations throughout Northern Ireland.
Groups of masked individuals torched multiple residences they suspected of housing immigrants, ignited garbage containers and a Belfast public bus, and hurled debris at law enforcement officers during Tuesday evening’s unrest. Emergency responders pulled multiple individuals from blazing houses.
Leaders from both sides of Northern Ireland’s coalition government denounced the violence. First Minister Michelle O’Neill of Irish nationalist party Sinn Fein characterized it as “thuggery.”
“Groups of masked men burning families out of their homes is nothing less than disgusting cowardice,” she said.
Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly, of the pro-British Democratic Unionist Party, said that “taking frustration at the evil actions of a person out on those who had no part in it is utterly wrong.”
Monday’s assault, captured in disturbing video that rapidly circulated across social platforms, was exploited by anti-immigration groups. The injured party, a man in his 40s, remains hospitalized with severe wounds to his eyes, face and back following the north Belfast incident.
Authorities stated the accused is a Sudanese national who arrived in Northern Ireland from the neighboring Republic of Ireland in 2023, sought asylum and received a 5-year residency authorization.
The Police Service of Northern Ireland indicated no evidence suggests the assault involves terrorism and they are not pursuing additional suspects.
The street disturbances occurred despite political appeals for restraint.
Prime Minister Starmer described the knife attack as “sickening” and declared he had “no tolerance for abhorrent scenes of violence like this on our streets.”
Demonstrations were promoted online by far-right organizers including Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, also known as Tommy Robinson.
Northern Ireland Justice Minister Naomi Long said social media instigators who “yesterday would have struggled to find Belfast on a map” were “weaponizing” the fears of local people.
“If you’re driving people from their homes based on nothing but the color of their skin, you can’t dress that up any other way, it’s racism, and those bad faith actors need to take a step back,” she told the BBC.
Last week a separate case of a university student who was stabbed to death in Southampton, England in December was seized on by activists and U.S. Vice President JD Vance who blamed immigration for the violence.
Henry Nowak, who was white, was killed by Vickrum Digwa, a Sikh who falsely claimed to police that he was the victim of a racist assault by Nowak. When police officers arrived, they initially treated the wounded Nowak as a suspect before noticing his injury and trying to resuscitate him.
Digwa was convicted of murder for stabbing Nowak with a Sikh dagger and sentenced last week to life in prison with a minimum 21-year term. But the case has spurred heated debates about policing and race, and a protest over Nowak’s death turned violent with some attacking police with chairs and rocks. Several people were charged with violent disorder over the protest.
