Belfast race riots see families targeted and houses torched after stabbing

Belfast race riots see families targeted and houses torched after stabbing Submitted by Imran Mulla on Wed, 06/10/2026 - 11:01 Hundreds of masked men storm through Belfast after Elon Musk and other far-right figures urged protests following alleged stabbing by Sudanese asylum seeker A building is set alight in the Sandy Row area of Belfast city centre, Northern Ireland, in the evening of 9 June 2026 (AFP) Off Race riots broke out in the Northern Irish capital Belfast on Tuesday night as hundreds of masked men torched homes and vehicles belonging mostly to ethnic minority residents. The rioters set up checkpoints to search cars for foreign nationals, after the arrest on Tuesday of a Sudanese asylum seeker who has been charged with attempted murder. Hadi Alodid, a 30-year-old granted indefinite leave to remain in the UK, was filmed attacking a man on a residential street with a knife in what many commentators have described as an attempted beheading. Officers said they did not believe the attack was terror-related. On Tuesday afternoon, far-right activist Tommy Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, and billionaire X owner Elon Musk urged people to demonstrate over the attack across the UK. Musk posted on X: "Only by protesting REPEATEDLY and LOUDLY will there be any change!!" Both Musk and Robinson shared the locations of protests on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. Labour Party Chair Anna Turley denounced Musk, who is an American citizen from South Africa, as "appalling" on Wednesday. On Tuesday night, masked rioters in Belfast set houses, cars and a bus on fire. They were reportedly targeting council houses with migrants, asylum seekers or refugees in them. Footage showed children being carried out of houses next to the ones set alight. A Middle Eastern supermarket was set on fire and a local pastor, Jack McGee, told the BBC that residents were forced out of their houses "because they're black". Whites-only checkpoints One resident on Lendrick Road in east Belfast, Jamie Corry, told the Daily Mail that "the cars started to explode, the doors started smoking, the windows started melting, and the next thing the house was going to go up on fire". Men filmed kicking in doors and smashing windows said they were "getting foreigners out". Streets across Belfast were blocked off by rioters, and masked men set up checkpoints to monitor passing cars for non-white people. They did this with makeshift roadblocks made of street furniture. Masked men were filmed looking into cars before allowing them to pass. "We've seen police officers and firefighters having to actually rescue families from those buildings, bringing them out through the flames." Dan Johnson, BBC News correspondent, describes the violent disorder taking place in Belfast this evening.#Newsnight pic.twitter.com/KctY1OhT5N — BBC Newsnight (@BBCNewsnight) June 9, 2026 Elsewhere, young men were filmed riding on scooters carrying hammers and milk cartons filled with petrol. On Shankhill Road in west Belfast, an ethnic minority woman reportedly appeared at a window of a house besieged by rioters, who then battered down the house door and threw bricks at the windows.  British Prime Minister Keir Starmer denounced the disorder as "shocking and completely unacceptable" on Wednesday morning. He said: "There is no justification for the violence and disorder that we saw threatening our communities, nor for those who encouraged it, online or elsewhere. It is clear that people were targeted last night because of their background and I will not tolerate it." Starmer accuses Farage of inciting rage in wake of Southampton riot Read More » Michelle O’Neill, the first minister of Northern Ireland, said: "Groups of masked men burning families out of their homes is nothing less than disgusting cowardice. This has nothing to do with community. This is outright thuggery." Anti-migrant protests were held elsewhere in the UK on Tuesday night, including in London, Glasgow and Southampton, where crowds rioted last week over the killing of a young man. About 300 men in balaklavas were seen marching through the streets in Glasgow.  Video footage showed some of them fighting passers-by and attacking a delivery driver. These events have raised fears of more violent disorder over the summer. In August 2024, rioting raged across the country for over a week after the killing of three young girls in Stockport.  UK Politics News Post Date Override 0 Update Date Mon, 05/04/2020 - 21:19 Update Date Override 0