Belfast unrest enters second night as police use water cannon after stabbing

At the crime scene, police found Alodid on top of the victim and armed with a kitchen knife, a detective told the court. According to hospital staff cited in the proceedings, Alodid said: "I've killed someone, I don't know if they are dead," and also said, "I will kill you." Police said Alodid entered Northern Ireland from the Republic of Ireland in 2023, applied for asylum and was granted a five-year permit to remain. The Police Service of Northern Ireland said there is no information to suggest the attack was terrorism-related.

A second night of clashes

On Tuesday night, masked men set fire to several homes they believed to house immigrants, burned trash bins, torched a Belfast bus and pelted police with objects. Firefighters rescued several people from burning houses and more than two dozen people were left homeless. Families, including one with a baby, were taken to police stations for safety, according to PSNI Chief Constable Jon Boutcher, who said 200 more officers would be on the streets on Wednesday and that the PSNI was calling in support from other forces.

Political response

A second night of clashes followed on Wednesday. Police blasted water cannon at protesters, some of whom set small fires and threw bricks, rocks and bottles. Demonstrators wearing masks tore bricks from the walls outside homes and smashed pavements with sledgehammers to use as projectiles. Bus and train operators in Belfast said they would stop services early because of expected protests. Anselme Shima, a Belfast resident originally from Congo, said he saw smoke from burning vehicles near his home: "I've lived on my street for almost 10 years, I have a good relationship with my neighbors, but last night was a horrific one."

Wider context

Politicians on both sides of the border condemned the violence. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer called the scenes "shocking and completely unacceptable" and condemned the stabbing as "sickening," saying violence against people based on their background would not be tolerated. DUP Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly said taking frustration at the stabbing out on those not involved was "utterly wrong," using the phrase: "taking frustration at the evil actions of a person out on those who had no part in it is utterly wrong." Sinn Féin First Minister Michelle O'Neill described the violence as "thuggery" and said: "Groups of masked men burning families out of their homes is nothing less than disgusting cowardice." Northern Ireland Justice Minister Naomi Long said social media agitators who "yesterday would have struggled to find Belfast on a map" were "weaponizing" the fears of local people.

Ogilvie's family appealed for an end to the violence and said migrants "make a deeply valuable contribution to our country." The unrest drew comparisons to a protest over a separate stabbing in Southampton, England, in December, in which university student Henry Nowak was killed by Vickrum Digwa, a Sikh man who falsely claimed to police that he was the victim of a racist assault by Nowak. That protest turned violent, with some attacking police with chairs and rocks, and several people were charged with violent disorder. Digwa was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison with a minimum 21-year term. U.S. Vice President JD Vance blamed immigration for the violence in the Southampton case, an idea rejected by Starmer and other British politicians. The 1998 Northern Ireland peace accord ended decades of violence known as "The Troubles," which left almost 3,600 people dead, and the latest scenes have revived concerns about community tensions in the region.