Masked men have burned families out of their homes in Belfast and torched a number of vehicles in a wave of anti-immigrant violence that followed a knife attack for which a Sudanese man has been charged with attempted murder.
Hadi Alodid, 30, appeared in court accused of the attack on Stephen Ogilvy, who was seriously injured and lost an eye.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Belfast erupts in anti-immigration riots after asylum seeker arrest
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Alodid, was charged with attempted murder, possession of an article with a blade or point in a public place and threats to kill.
He has been remanded in custody.
Hundreds of protesters, many with their faces covered, attacked police and burned vehicles in a number of locations across Northern Ireland after a video of the attack went viral.
Video broadcast by the BBC showed police helping a family escape from a burning house.
Local politicians and a pastor said many of those who were targeted were Black.
Residents inspected the damage to homes on Wednesday morning, with the fronts of some houses blackened by smoke and others gutted by fire, with their windows broken or burned out.
Some cars were reduced to shells.
“There can be no excuse and no justification for these attacks,” Northern Ireland’s First Minister Michelle O’Neill said.
“Groups of masked men burning families out of their homes is nothing less than disgusting cowardice.”
Belfast has woken to scenes of charred homes and cars after a night of anti-immigrant rioting. Credit: AAP Leaders have called for calm. Credit: AAP British Prime Minister Keir Starmer had described the initial knife attack, which took place in north Belfast late on Monday evening, as “sickening”.
The assault, which is not being treated as terrorism, comes at a time of heightened tensions in Britain following the murder of a student who was handcuffed by police as he lay dying from stab wounds after his killer, a Sikh man, falsely alleged a racist attack.
It also follows repeated protests about immigration, with populist parties saying Britain’s asylum policy had allowed dangerous men into the country.
Northern Ireland Justice Minister Naomi Long told Reuters that “bad-faith actors” who would have previously struggled to find the province on a map had sought to weaponise the understandable fear and anger sparked by the knife attack to target those who had the same skin colour.
“We know in Northern Ireland the damage that can do when you demonise a whole group of people because of the behaviour of a few, and we do not want to go back there,” he said.
Smaller protests also took place outside parliament in London while other gatherings were reported across Britain.
In Northern Ireland, masked youths gathered early on Tuesday evening at points across Belfast, with police responding by deploying armoured vehicles.
Rioters set fire to a number of cars across the city, while a bus was engulfed in flames in east Belfast.
Belfast has erupted in violent anti-immigration riots after an alleged beheading attempt. Credit: 7NEWS The BBC reported that a crowd of 100 men kicked in doors and broke windows of homes on a street in east Belfast.
“They’re getting put out just because they’re Black,” Pastor Jack McKee told the BBC after attacks on homes in the north of the city.
The victim, a man in his 40s, suffered significant injuries to his eyes and slash wounds to his face and back, with a kitchen knife found at the scene, police said.
Footage showed a number of members of the public trying to fight off the attacker before police arrived, and they were credited by senior officers with saving the man’s life.
Northern Ireland was also hit by anti-immigrant rioting in 2025 amid anger over an alleged sexual assault.
Charges against two boys were later withdrawn by the prosecution service.