Northern Ireland authorities and the family of Stephen Ogilvie, the victim of an alleged stabbing attack by a Sudanese man in Belfast earlier this week, are urging demonstrators to refrain from further violence after the incident spurred a wave of anti-immigration unrest in parts of the town.
“We have the desire to make it absolutely clear that overnight unrest just isn’t welcome, and peaceful protest is the one way forward,” the family of the victim said in a press release obtained by Reuters.
“We’ve got many migrants who make a deeply helpful contribution to our country, including in our healthcare system and hospitality sector, and we rely upon them to make our country work,” it continued.
Ogilvie, a person in his 40s, is in hospital after losing his left eye and suffering serious injuries to his face and back within the attack within the Kinnaird Avenue area of north Belfast on Monday, based on U.K. media reports.
Masked youths block a road with burning debris in north Belfast, Northern Ireland, on the night of June 9, 2026. Northern Ireland police appealed for calm on Tuesday after a stabbing in Belfast, allegedly by a Sudanese man, and captured in a graphic video, prompted calls for anti-immigration protests from U.K. far-right figures.
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Footage of the incident has been widely circulated on social media, despite police urging the general public to not view or share it.
Hadi Alodid, the 30-year-old suspect, had been granted permission to stay within the U.K. after entering through Ireland, The Guardian reported. He appeared in court in Belfast on Wednesday, where he was charged with attempted murder and possessing a knife.
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The incident galvanized crowds of anti-immigration demonstrators who took to the streets of the Northern Ireland capital Tuesday night, where they burned homes, buses, cars and other buildings, forcing residents, including young children, to flee.
Those actions have been widely condemned by political leaders, including U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who, in an X statement, described the chaos as “shocking and completely unacceptable.”
Flames and thick black smoke rise from a burning bus during unrest on Sandy Row in Belfast, Northern Ireland, on June 9, 2026.
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“It is obvious that folks were targeted last night due to their background and I won’t tolerate it. Those responsible will feel the total force of the law,” Starmer continued.
Northern Ireland’s First Minister, Michelle O’Neill, said the groups answerable for the outbreak of violence and vandalism showed “disgusting cowardice” by “burning families out of their homes.”
“It’s thuggery, plain and straightforward,” she said, adding that the attack on Ogilvie was “heinous” and “fallacious” but that it was being exploited by “dangerous and reckless” people to focus on innocent individuals who had nothing to do together with his stabbing.
“Racism is fallacious, intimidation is fallacious, and violence is fallacious,” she continued.
Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland, Jon Boutcher, said at a press conference on Wednesday that violent motion on the streets of Northern Ireland is an “act of self-harm.”
“This disorder is an insult to the victim of this assault, an insult to the members of the general public who bravely improved to save lots of his life and the officers who rushed to the scene,” he added, before asking individuals to not stoke the fireplace.
“I urge those involved or considering becoming involved in disorder to stop and think. Ask yourselves is that this hatred something you wish to be related to? Is that this value being prosecuted over and potentially throwing away your future? Or the longer term of your kids?
“I’m appealing for calm over the approaching days and again, urge anyone considering becoming involved in violence and disorder to think long and hard to think concerning the repercussions for themselves and their community.”
“This has got to stop. We cannot have a society that enables this to occur,” he concluded.
Quite a lot of families, including a parent carrying their two-month-old baby, left their homes through the height of the disturbances, police said Wednesday, and a number of other officers were injured while responding to disturbances.
“Three individuals have been arrested thus far in Belfast and Newtownabbey, with more to come back,” Butcher said.
People stand next to burnt-out cars and houses after demonstrations turned violent the night before in eastern Belfast, Northern Ireland, on June 10, 2026. A Sudanese man was as a consequence of appear in court in Northern Ireland on June 10 over a brutal knife attack captured on video that triggered an evening of violence by anti-immigration protesters.
Paul Faith / AFP via Getty Images
The attack, which is currently 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.
Tech billionaire Elon Musk reposted many messages denouncing the state of the United Kingdom following the Belfast incident.
— with files from Reuters
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