Belfast riots leave 27 homeless as online hate fuels anti-immigrant violence; UK and Ireland vow border security boost

The attack

A knife attack in north Belfast on Monday night left Stephen Ogilvie, aged 44, with severe injuries including the loss of his left eye and deep cuts to his face, neck and back. Footage of the assault circulated within minutes on social media. Hadi Alodid, a 30-year-old Sudanese man, was arrested at the scene on Kinnaird Avenue and later charged with attempted murder. Alodid had entered Northern Ireland by bus from Dublin in February 2023 after flying from Paris and was granted leave to remain until 2028.

Social media inferno

Less than an hour after the attack, Tommy Robinson shared the graphic video on X to more than two million followers, labelling the suspect an “invader.” By Tuesday morning the clip had reached six million views, and Elon Musk agreed with a post demanding “consequences” for politicians. Facebook groups and high-reach accounts on TikTok and X circulated times and locations for demonstrations, road-block lists and a directory of home addresses allegedly belonging to immigrants. A Wired investigation found that the white supremacist Active Club movement helped orchestrate the violence from the US.

“Active Clubs, the fastest growing neo-Nazi movement around the globe, never miss an opportunity to exploit a tragedy for their own hateful purposes. The protests in Belfast had hardly started before Active Club senior voices were functioning as a support network for the racist riots and encouraging replication in other countries.”

Violence and displacement

On Tuesday and Wednesday nights, masked rioters set vehicles, houses and a bus on fire, kicked in doors and attacked migrant-owned businesses. Police used water cannon and plastic bullets after crowds threw rocks and petrol bombs. At least 12 officers were injured. A two-month-old baby was rescued as masked groups went door to door ousting foreign-born residents, leaving at least 27 people homeless. Union official Patricia McKeown said a nurse of a different skin colour was chased into an east-Belfast hospital by four masked men.

“This is hate. This is hate that endangers lives.”

Political response

By Thursday night the situation was calmer, with only lower-level disturbances. Police had made 19 arrests, including a 16-year-old, and maintained an operation over the weekend. Taoiseach Micheál Martin and UK prime minister Keir Starmer held a phone call on Friday, agreeing to strengthen the common travel area through enhanced data-sharing and joint-intelligence operations. The leaders said the CTA was of huge importance but must be protected from abuse.

“Unrest in Belfast shows that the government hasn’t done enough to tackle the scale and speed of the algorithmic amplification of misinformation online.”

The science and technology committee chair, Chi Onwurah, wrote to technology secretary Liz Kendall accusing the government of ignoring a previous report that warned social media algorithms had driven violent unrest by amplifying harmful content. The letter demanded that platforms be forced during crises to stem the viral spread of false information even if it does not meet the legal bar for illegality.