Anti-immigrant riots in Belfast after knife attack: 19 arrested, homes torched, community in fear

What sparked the violence

A knife attack on Stephen Ogilvie in north Belfast on Monday night was captured in graphic footage and shared widely on social media. Hadi Alodid, a 30‑year‑old Sudanese man, was arrested at the scene and later charged with attempted murder. Ogilvie remains in hospital with life‑changing injuries, including the loss of an eye. Within hours, far‑right activist Tommy Robinson shared the video on X, where it garnered millions of views, and Elon Musk, the platform’s owner, weighed in on a post calling for “consequences” for politicians.

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.

The riots spread

On Tuesday evening, masked groups moved through Belfast setting fire to a bus, cars, garbage cans and homes believed to belong to immigrants. Emergency responders evacuated at least 15 families, including a parent with a two‑month‑old baby, from burning houses. Unrest continued on Wednesday in Glengormley and Portadown, where rioters hijacked a van, set it alight and pushed it toward a police line; it veered off and crashed into the wall of Paul Sharkey’s home. Police deployed water cannon and made 16 arrests that night, with 12 officers injured. By Thursday, the total arrest count had reached 19, including a 16‑year‑old boy.

I thought moving out here I had got away from them — from the bombs and bullets, all the rest of it — and moved to the suburbs. Never did I think I was going to witness that.

Minority communities living in fear

Many of Belfast’s ethnic minority residents say the violence revived trauma from countries they had fled. Twasul Mohammed, a Sudanese refugee, said women and children were “terrified and in shock” and he had kept his children home from school. Unison regional secretary Patricia McKeown reported that workers were stopped by vigilante patrols checking ethnicity, especially near hospitals, and a nurse was chased by masked men on her way to work. Another Sudanese mother, Zeinab, whose family was evacuated by the Anaka Women’s Collective, described being taken in by an Irish family outside Belfast.

We feel that not everyone here is unaccepting of foreigners. There is goodness, there are people who love us, people who shared their homes with us, shared our worries, shared our moments of weakness, and took us in.

Political and international reactions

Britain’s minister for Northern Ireland called the attacks “racist thuggery.” Local residents expressed disgust, with Ada Ní Deoradháin, an Irish‑Polish woman who grew up in Belfast, saying the violence echoed the pogroms of the 1970s and was encouraged by “far‑right rhetoric from politicians and billionaires.” A WIRED investigation found that the white supremacist Active Club movement helped orchestrate the masked youths who spearheaded much of the violence, sharing tactics and celebrating the “organisation and professionalism” of the rioters. Analysts warned the Belfast unrest mirrors earlier anti‑immigrant eruptions in Dublin, Southport and elsewhere in Europe, where a single violent act is used as a spark for wider social explosion.

Ongoing tension

Although Thursday night was relatively quiet, police linked an arson attack on the Shore Road in north Belfast to the disorder, and race‑hate graffiti appeared in the Dee Street and Newtownards Road area. The Police Service of Northern Ireland said its operation would remain in place over the weekend. Dr Mukesh Chugh, a doctor in Derry, said families from different nations were telling him their homes were gone and they needed reassurance. Adam, a resident from Ballycastle, said he had been unable to drive to Belfast to visit his 72‑year‑old mother in hospital because it was too dangerous each evening.