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Horrific video footage of a man reported to be a Sudanese asylum seeker in Northern Ireland<\/a> wielding a knife and stabbing another man\u2019s head and neck while he was pinned to the ground has been quickly seized on by far-right activists to drum up immigration fear across Europe.<\/p>\n Belfast police dealing with the aftermath of the horrific attack said there was no indication it was terror-related. They subsequently charged the 30-year-old man with attempted murder. His victim is in a serious condition in hospital receiving treatment for eye, facial and back wounds.<\/p>\n The notorious British far-right figure Tommy Robinson quickly posted the Belfast footage on Elon Musk\u2019s social media site X, and it went viral, garnering more than 2 million hits until age-related restrictions and a warning on the video stopped the pile-on. Twelve hours later, Robinson\u2019s exhortation to \u201cprotest tonight\u201d was viewed by 6.8 million followers, and he listed gathering sites in 70 cities: \u201cThe whole of the United Kingdom is hitting the streets tonight at 7pm following yet another invader attack on our people.\u201d<\/p>\n The attack came on the anniversary of last year\u2019s riots<\/a> over immigration in Northern Ireland that began when two Roma teenagers were charged with sexually assaulting a female from Ballymena. Ironically, while right-wing, populist, anti-immigration parties have emerged across Europe, Northern Ireland and Ireland have so far been fairly barren ground for such reactionary populists.<\/p>\n But now Belfast \u2013 a city once riven by sectarian violence between Catholics and Protestants \u2013 is a city again confronted by rioters and groups of masked men torching the homes, business and cars of immigrant residents in the city\u2019s east. There were also isolated copycat attacks on property across Northern Ireland.<\/p>\n Related Article Protesters also gathered in Glasgow city centre and St Andrew\u2019s Square in Edinburgh and crowds stood outside a Southampton hotel that had housed asylum seekers, holding signs reading \u201cIllegal Migration Is Destroying Our Civilisation\u201d. The latest troubles come just days after the backlash over the release of bodycam footage of English police handcuffing Henry Nowak after he had been stabbed by a Sikh assailant and lay dying.<\/p>\n While Northern Irish and British officials called for calm, populist politicians, including Reform UK leader Nigel Farage and his rival at breakaway Restore Britain, Rupert Lowe, weaponised the Belfast situation for their own ends, sharing a partly blurred image of the attacker. Said Lowe: \u201cWe do not have to live like this \u2013 there is another way. Death penalty, mass deportations, end mass immigration.\u201d<\/p>\n The attack in north Belfast was heinous and wrong and such behaviour cannot ever be excused. But the small but organised group of agitators who use such events to stir up division and sow hatred on social media that quickly manifests in real-world rioting and violence must also be called out.<\/p>\n They target innocent people with a racist pretence to promote simple solutions for complex problems.<\/p>\n The growing debate about immigration that is bluntly linked to such attacks has become a global phenomenon, and Australia is not immune. But as Prime Minister Anthony Albanese noted, there is space for a reasonable debate about migration levels without descending to absolutes and vilifying entire races or groups based on the actions of one or two miscreants.<\/p>\n The last thing Australia needs is to see the sorts of scenes of social breakdown and lawlessness now on display across England, Scotland and Northern Ireland.<\/p>\n Jordan Baker sends an exclusive newsletter to subscribers each week. Sign up to receive her Note from the Editor<\/a>.<\/p>\n Save<\/p>\n You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n![\"Vehicles](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/ca9bbd5af73b0e5f663dedc3ea94fd77d198a2fa.jpeg\")
Vehicles set on fire by protesters in Belfast after the attack.PA\/PA via AP<\/p>\n![\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/3890959bb00c8058e4639de14ffc651acf7033111224f70c359ead5d0de438e5.gif\")
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