Second night of racist riots hits Belfast as police use water cannon to protect migrant shelter
Masked rioters attacked police, set fires and tried to reach a migrant accommodation in the Belfast area on Wednesday night, drawing water cannon from officers for the second evening in a row.
Trigger: knife attack and viral video
A brutal knife attack on Monday, in which a 40‑year‑old man was blinded in one eye, ignited a wave of racist violence across Northern Ireland. Video of the assault spread rapidly on social media, showing a suspect later identified as a 30‑year‑old asylum seeker from Sudan repeatedly stabbing a bloodied victim on the ground. Far‑right activists, including Tommy Robinson and US billionaire Elon Musk, amplified the footage and called for protests against migrants.
Tuesday night rampage
On Tuesday evening, several hundred people gathered in Belfast, some masked, and began setting vehicles and houses alight. Rioters torched a bus, threw projectiles at police, and forced firefighters to rescue residents from burning homes. Multiple people were left homeless. The police confirmed three arrests, while far‑right organisers vowed further demonstrations.
A city on edge
By Wednesday morning, schools and businesses across Belfast had shut their doors early, and public bus and train services were suspended. Police had strengthened their presence by 200 extra officers, with reinforcements from elsewhere in the United Kingdom expected on Thursday. Authorities feared new outbreaks of violence after far‑right groups renewed calls for protests. The city centre remained quiet, but anxiety was palpable.
Second night: water cannon at Newtownabbey
Tensions erupted again after dusk. In the suburbs of Glengormley and Newtownabbey, about 200 people assembled. Some tried to approach a building housing migrants but were blocked by police. Masked demonstrators tore bricks from walls and used sledgehammers to smash pavements, hurling the fragments at officers. They set rubbish bins on fire and used sections of a dismantled wooden fence as a shield. In response, the police deployed water cannon to disperse the crowd. The evening was ultimately calmer than Tuesday’s violence, but the attacks underscored a pattern of escalating disorder.
- Sudanese asylum seeker stabs man in Belfast; video circulates online, far‑right activists call for protests.
- First night of riots in Belfast: cars and houses burned, bus torched, multiple people rescued from homes.
- Suspect charged with attempted murder; schools and transport shut; second night of violence in Newtownabbey, police deploy water cannon.
Condemnation and legal action
Northern Ireland’s police chief, Jon Boutcher, called the riots “a massive act of self‑destruction by brainless idiots.” Prime Minister Keir Starmer wrote on X that the scenes in Belfast were “shocking and completely unacceptable,” vowing that those responsible would “feel the full force of the law.” First Minister Michelle O’Neill described groups of masked men burning families out of their homes as “nothing other than disgusting cowardice.” The suspect in the knife attack was charged on Wednesday with attempted murder and appeared before a judge. The victim’s family, meanwhile, urged the public not to exploit the tragedy to stir hatred.
