Northern Ireland Victim's Family Appeals for Calm Amid Anti-Immigrant Violence

The family of a Northern Irish man who lost an eye in a knife attack has appealed for calm after the incident triggered a wave of anti-immigrant violence in Belfast, with masked men burning homes and torching vehicles.

The appeal came as a Sudanese man appeared in court charged with attempted murder and as British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and politicians in Northern Ireland condemned the violence targeted at ethnic minorities.

Police clashed with protesters for a second night on Wednesday, local time, deploying water cannons and armoured vehicles against a few dozen young men hurling bricks and fireworks ​to the north of Belfast.

But there was far less unrest ‌than the same time the previous evening after the video of the knife attack went viral.

Stabbing victim's family calls for calm

The family of the victim, Stephen Ogilvie, issued a statement calling for calm.

"We want to make it absolutely clear that overnight unrest is not welcome, and peaceful protest is the only way forward," the statement said.

"We have many migrants who make a deeply valuable contribution to our country … We do not want this terrible tragedy to ‌be used to divide people or fuel hostility."

Speaking in parliament in London, Sir Keir said the attack raised serious questions but that "driving people out of their homes is not … the right way to ⁠respond".

The suspect in the attack, a 30-year-old Sudanese national named as Hadi Alodid, appeared in court on Wednesday and was remanded in ‌custody.

Mr Ogilvie, who was in his 40s, suffered significant injuries to his face and back, the court heard.

Protesters set cars and homes alight

Videos of the attack had ‌circulated online all day on Tuesday, sparking calls on social media for violent protest.

Police had to help one family escape from a burning house. Several cars and a bus were set on fire and reduced to shells. Local politicians and a pastor said many of those targeted were black.

Resident Jamie Corry, 33, said he could only watch on as his house went up in flames.

"I was actually standing right there watching my whole house just go up, slowly but surely," he said.

Northern Ireland's First Minister Michelle O'Neill described the violence perpetrated by the masked men as "nothing less than disgusting cowardice".

The knife attack, which is not being treated as terrorism, comes at a time of heightened tensions in Britain after the murder of a student in England 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 has allowed dangerous men into the country.

Tech ‌billionaire Elon Musk reposted many messages denouncing the state of the United Kingdom following the Belfast incident.

Minister accuses 'bad faith actors' of exploiting attacks

Northern Ireland's 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 people's understandable fear and anger over the knife attack to target those who had the same skin colour as the assailant.

Amid calls from Mr Musk, anti-immigrant activist Tommy Robinson and others for more protests on Wednesday, Northern Ireland's police chief said an extra 200 officers were being deployed on the ‌streets.

"These idiots didn't ​just target ethnic minority groups … they targeted society," Chief ⁠Constable Jon Boutcher said of Tuesday night's rioters.

Belfast pastor Jack McKee told the BBC that some members of his church, who had lived there for 20 years, were "getting put out [of their homes] just because they're black".

The disorder in Northern Ireland is the latest violence to flare in the UK in response to a crime, often believed to involve a migrant, which has led to calls for demonstrations from some prominent anti-Islam and anti-immigrant activists.

Immigration has historically been low in Northern Ireland due in part to the three-decade conflict waged between ⁠mainly Catholic Irish nationalists seeking Irish unity and predominantly Protestant pro-British "loyalists" wanting to stay in the United Kingdom, and the British military.

However, migration has increased in recent years and there has been a hardening sentiment against it in both Northern Ireland and parts of the Republic ‌of Ireland.

According to the 2021 census, 96.6 per cent ‌of those living in Northern Ireland were white, while police statistics showed numbers of racist incidents reached a record level in 2025.

Northern Ireland was also ​hit by anti-immigrant rioting last year amid anger over an alleged sexual assault. Charges against two boys were later withdrawn by prosecutors.