Anti-immigration riots have erupted in Belfast after a stabbing by a Sudanese asylum seeker, with rioters setting fire to homes and vehicles. A monitoring group says it warned the Police Service of Northern Ireland for eight months about online 'hitlists' of addresses that were later targeted. The violence has left international healthcare staff too frightened to work and follows similar unrest in Southampton.
Belfast anti-immigration riots
- ▪During the riots, masked groups threw rocks at police and set up roadblocks
- ▪U.K. Parliament member Claire Hanna described the unrest in Belfast as a "race-based pogrom."
- ▪Anti-immigration riots in and around Belfast involved setting fire to homes, a bus, and trash cans
- ▪The Newtownabbey and Glengormley areas north of Belfast were centers of serious disorder
Stabbing attack trigger
- ▪The victim, Stephen Ogilvie, was blinded in his left eye and suffered deep wounds to his head, face, and back
- ▪The riots were sparked by a knife attack on June 9, 2026, where Hadi Alodid, a 30-year-old Sudanese asylum seeker, stabbed Stephen Ogilvie
- ▪The Police Service of Northern Ireland stated that no motive for the stabbing has been determined and it is not believed to be terrorism
- ▪The family of the stabbing victim, Stephen Ogilvie, has condemned the violent protests that followed the attack
- ▪The suspect, Hadi Alodid, was granted a five-year visa to remain in the U.K. in 2023 and has been charged with attempted murder
Online address lists targeting immigrants
- ▪The warnings noted a growing focus on houses in multiple occupation (HMOs) by anti-immigration activists since August 2025
- ▪A monitoring group, Accountability Project Northern Ireland, warned the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) for eight months about activists circulating addresses
- ▪The group sent the PSNI a "hitlist" of addresses in January 2026 that were later targeted in the riots
- ▪The PSNI called the online sharing of addresses "totally unacceptable" and "reckless activity" that distressed residents
Public figure social media amplification
- ▪Prominent figures including Elon Musk and British politician Nigel Farage shared the video and called for mass protests
- ▪MP Claire Hanna accused Musk, Farage, and far-right activist Tommy Robinson of fomenting the unrest online
Immigrant community intimidation
- ▪Some international staff in Northern Ireland's Health and Social Care service felt "too frightened to come to work."
- ▪A nurse was chased by masked men while going to work at the Ulster Hospital
Southampton two-tier policing protests
- ▪The Belfast riots followed recent anti-immigration protests in Southampton, England, over the killing of student Henry Nowak
- ▪Far-right activists used the Nowak case to promote a "two-tier" policing narrative, claiming White Britons are treated differently
- ▪In the Southampton case, Vickrum Digwa, a British-born Sikh, killed Nowak and falsely claimed to police that Nowak had attacked him first
Story comments
Loading comments…