Mass protests, fires, and clashes with police erupted across parts of Northern Ireland on Tuesday after a Sudanese national was arrested in a brutal stabbing attack that shocked Belfast.
Earlier in the day, law enforcement said the suspect shown in a graphic video pinning another man to the ground and repeatedly stabbing him in the face and neck was a Sudanese national. Witnesses intervened and attempted to pull the attacker off the victim.
“He’s trying to cut his head off!” a person can be heard shouting in the video.
The suspect was arrested on attempted murder charges, but authorities have yet to release his name. The victim, identified as a man in his 40s, was taken to the hospital with serious injuries.
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Hours later, demonstrations spread across Belfast. Dramatic video shows protestors torching vehicles and burning buses in the streets, creating roadblocks for passersby and setting up intense clashes with local police.
Rioters are creating roadblocks by setting cars on fire in Belfast pic.twitter.com/uT7LDBb74H
— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) June 9, 2026
One video shows a moving burning car crashing into an apartment building. A group was also seen vandalizing houses and breaking windows.
🚨BREAKING: Anti-migration riots escalate in Belfast, UK, as the sun begins to set
The police look overwhelmed… pic.twitter.com/8CCJ8PibM1
— Inevitable West (@Inevitablewest) June 9, 2026
The unrest quickly took on an anti-immigration tone.
“England For The English,” one man shouted at a protest.
“Terrorist scum off our streets,” another group of protestors shouted.
Footage circulating on social media appears to show locals storming and setting fire to properties housing migrants in Northern Ireland. Another video shows a house engulfed in flames as anger over migrant crime boils over across the pond.
“Britain is at [a] breaking point and the government have turned their backs on the people,” Tommy Robinson, a right-wing British activist, said on X.
🚨 BREAKING: A bus has been set on fire in Belfast amid protests over the attempted beheading of a man pic.twitter.com/FX8maCMalK
— Politics UK (@PolitlcsUK) June 9, 2026
Police first identified the attacker as a man from Somalia, but later determined he was from Sudan. Assistant Chief Constable Ryan Henderson said that his “understanding is the individual was given leave to remain in Northern Ireland,” The Daily Wire previously reported.
Sky News reported that the suspect is a man in his 30s
Nigel Farage, the leader of the ascendant Reform UK party, called for full transparency over the attack. Farage has long called for a freeze on immigration.
“What happened in Belfast last night is horrific,” he said. “The authorities must reveal the identity and status of the attacker immediately. The public are (sic) entitled to the truth.”
Northern Ireland Justice Minister Naomi Long said she was scared about backlash to minorities and said the attack should not be used to fuel “dangerous narratives.”
“I also know there are many people in our community, people from ethnic minority backgrounds who are terrified today about any kind of retaliation or backlash against them, which we have seen in the past,” she told the BBC.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer condemned the attack.
“The horrific attack in Belfast last night is sickening,” said Starmer. “I have absolutely no tolerance for abhorrent scenes of violence like this on our streets. My thoughts are first and foremost with the victim, and I thank the first responders, including members of the public who intervened.”
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