Riots in Belfast: Burning vehicles and buildings after knife attack

The trigger was a knife attack the day before, in which a man was seriously injured. A video published on online services before the protests shows a perpetrator repeatedly attacking a man lying on the ground, covered in blood, with a knife and apparently attempting to slit his throat. In the footage, several people later try to separate the attacker from the victim. The victim was taken to a hospital with serious injuries. Police have called on people not to share the video further and not to influence the investigations through social media.

The suspected perpetrator and the charges

According to police, the attacker is a Sudanese man who is legally residing in the United Kingdom. The 30-year-old was arrested and charged with attempted murder, weapons possession and death threats. He is to be brought before a judge on Wednesday. According to this, the suspect received a five-year visa in 2023. There is so far no indication of a terrorist background, police said. The motive for the act is currently unclear.

In Belfast on Tuesday evening, several vehicles, including a bus, were set on fire during protests against immigration. A bus and several cars were set ablaze in the capital of the British part of the country, Northern Ireland. In addition, a building on the edge of the city centre caught fire; residents had to be evacuated. According to the BBC, protests also took place in other cities in Northern Ireland in connection with the events.

Eyewitness accounts from the city

Several eyewitnesses described the situation. Eemran, an engineer of Indian origin who has been living in Belfast for a little over a year, told the AFP news agency: „By 7.30pm they started [a] fire in the bins … we heard police cars and sirens." In a further statement, he added: „More and more people started coming, they started throwing petrol bombs. Suddenly the fire started going … we had smoke inside the building … fire people came in and they said 'go down'." Camila, a 36-year-old Chilean woman who had moved to Belfast a month earlier, described the events as „scary". She said: „Of course I'm not used to it. I understand the people's rage but also there are ways of discussing these things more peacefully."

Northern Ireland's police chief Jon Boutcher appealed to the population not to be incited by social media and to wait for the work of the investigators. Politicians from various parties in Northern Ireland also warned against further riots. Northern Ireland's First Minister Michelle O'Neill sharply condemned the protests and called for calm. In a post on the X platform, she wrote: „Groups of masked men driving families from their homes by burning them down – that is nothing but despicable cowardice."

Political reactions: Starmer and O'Neill condemn violence

British Prime Minister Starmer condemned the act in the strongest possible terms. He spoke of a „despicable" attack and declared that he had „absolutely no tolerance" for such scenes of violence on the streets. In a statement, he said: „I have absolutely no tolerance for despicable scenes of violence like this on our streets." Northern Irish politicians likewise condemned the violence. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer had also called for calm after the attack.

Tommy Robinson and the wave of protests in the United Kingdom

Tommy Robinson had called for the protests in Northern Ireland. Robinson was most recently also involved in the demonstrations in London over a faulty police operation following a fatal knife attack on a student. Just last week, there were also riots in Southampton on the fringes of a protest against immigration, triggered by the release of bodycam footage in connection with a fatal knife attack. According to reports, protests also took place in Southampton.

Hundreds of demonstrators blocked streets and set garbage containers on fire. Around 7.30 pm, they set fires in the garbage containers, as a resident reported. The violent clashes continued late into the evening. AFP journalists described how the security forces tried to break up the crowds with police vehicles and barriers.

In the summer of 2024, the country had already been shaken by violent, racially motivated riots. The authorities see parallels to those incidents at the time. The Northern Ireland police announced an increased presence in the affected neighbourhoods. Eyewitnesses also reported that flames and smoke remained visible for several hours.

Ultimately, firefighters came into the building and brought everyone outside, Eemran reported further. According to the treating doctors, the knife victim's injuries remain serious but stable. Police are meanwhile investigating in all directions and are also examining possible links to organised right-wing extremist groups.

According to the investigators' assessment, the dissemination of the video material on social networks had contributed significantly to the rapid mobilisation. Northern Ireland's police chief Jon Boutcher urgently called on people not to share any further footage. The incident was also a topic in the evening news in the United Kingdom itself; the BBC reported on the situation in several special editions.

Investigations and security situation

The incidents evoke memories of the so-called „Summer of Riots" in 2024, when racially motivated attacks shook several cities in Northern Ireland. Back then, vehicles and houses were also set on fire. Politarians once again called for a determined course against organised violence. Whether the current riots are directly connected to those events is the subject of ongoing investigations.

The British government announced that it would closely monitor the situation in Northern Ireland. Spokespersons for Prime Minister Starmer stated that they were in close contact with the Northern Irish authorities. Should the security situation deteriorate further, additional resources would be made available. Cooperation with the intelligence services was also intensified in order to identify possible further attacks at an early stage.

The news was broadcast on 09.06.2026 on the Deutschlandfunk programme. In Belfast itself, calm returned only slowly during the night to Wednesday. Residents reported burned-out vehicles and soot marks on house walls. The clean-up work continued into the morning, and public transport was partially suspended. Schools in the affected neighbourhoods remained closed on Wednesday.