Northern Ireland police said Tuesday they had detained a man over what British Prime Minister Keir Starmer branded a “sickening” stabbing attack in Belfast. Graphic video of the incident was shared online by figures on the far right of British politics, who have called for mass anti-immigration protests.
The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) identified the suspect as a Sudanese man in his 30s, after initially saying he was believed to be Somali. The police said a kitchen knife was found at the scene.
Video posted online shows a man straddling another man lying in a street and slashing him several times in the head and neck with a knife in what appears to have been an attempted beheading. Several people are seen intervening and tackling the perpetrator as police officers arrive.
Calls for demonstrations across Northern Ireland on Tuesday evening quickly gained steam online. Numerous social media accounts urged people to come out and “protest against mass immigration into their communities.”
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The stabbing came a year after racially-motivated riots rocked Northern Ireland following a sexual assault, and a week after far-right led protests over the way police responded to a young white student who had been fatally stabbed by a British Sikh man in southern England.
Starmer called Monday’s attack in Belfast “horrific” and “sickening.”
“I have absolutely no tolerance for abhorrent scenes of violence like this on our streets,” he said on X. “My thoughts are first and foremost with the victim, and I thank the first responders, including members of the public who intervened.”
Police say no info yet to suggest terrorism
The Northern Ireland police said the suspect in the Belfast stabbing was detained on suspicion of attempted murder.
The victim, a man in his 40s, was in serious condition in a local hospital after sustaining serious slash wounds to his face, eyes, neck and back, the police said.
Assistant Chief Constable Ryan Henderson said the PSNI had declared the “deeply concerning assault” a “critical incident.”
“We have commenced an investigation to establish a motive,” he said, adding that the “brutal attack will have sent shockwaves through the community, causing real concern.”
“At this stage, we have no information to suggest that this was a terrorist-related incident,” Hennderson said. He stressed that the investigation was just beginning, however.
Pleas for calm as police “aware of calls” for mass protests
The leaders of Northern Ireland’s five main political parties issued a joint statement condemning the attack, saying “there is no place in our society for this kind of brutality.”
“We call for calm and for space to allow justice to take its course,” the parties said.
The political leaders and police urged people not to share the video of the attack, saying its “graphic nature would only serve to retraumatize those involved.”
Gavin Robinson, a member of the British parliament from the pro-U.K. Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), said in parliament that the suspect was in the U.K. on a five-year visa.
“What occurred last night will have profound implications for community cohesion in this country,” Robinson said, urging the government to “recognize that uncontrolled immigration needs to end.”
Henderson said he was “aware of speculation in relation to the suspect’s immigration status,” adding that he had spoken with colleagues from the U.K. Home Office and his understanding was that “the individual was given leave to remain in Northern Ireland.”
He said the Home Office would be “confirming the exact details” in the coming days, and that he understood the individual came into Northern Ireland from Dublin, Ireland, before gaining permission to remain in the semi-autonomous U.K. region.
U.K. authorities have not yet confirmed the suspect’s immigration status.
Immigration has become a fiercely contested issue in British politics. Widespread anger over a perceived lack of control over who is able to enter and remain in the U.K., and how immigrants and longtime residents are treated by authorities, has helped fuel a rise of anti-immigration parties in the polls.
Leading far-right figures in Britain, including anti-immigration activist Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, who uses the name Tommy Robinson, were among those to circulate the video of the Belfast attack and call for protests.
Some accounts posted locations for protests planned later on Tuesday.
Henderson, the deputy police chief, said he was “aware of calls this evening for protest activity across Northern Ireland.”
“I understand that last night’s attempted murder will leave people feeling a range of emotions, from fear to anger,” he said, adding an appeal for calm.
Northern Ireland saw more than a week of riots and disorder last June after two Romanian teenagers were charged with the attempted rape of a schoolgirl in Ballymena, northwest of Belfast.
Those charges were later dropped, with prosecutors citing a lack of evidence, but anti-immigrant violence had already spread to other towns in Northern Ireland, with dozens of houses attacked and some residents opting to display “locals live here” signs in windows in a bid to deter rioters.
Mainland Britain also saw tense clashes between police and protesters at anti-immigration demonstrations last year, including some around hotels being used to house asylum seekers.