Belfast Riots Erupt After Sudanese Asylum Seeker Charged With Attempted Murder in Gruesome Videoed Stabbing

Rioters set fire to a bus and properties in Belfast on Tuesday evening in events billed as protests over a stabbing that occurred in the city two days earlier. A 30-year-old Sudanese refugee has been charged with attempted murder in connection with the attack and is due to appear at Belfast magistrates court on Wednesday.

The stabbing took place on Sunday night and was captured on video showing a man stabbing at the victim’s head and neck while the victim lay on the ground.

Detectives said there was no indication that the knife attack was terror-related. The Police Service of Northern Ireland launched a critical incident in response. Naomi Long, the minister of justice of Northern Ireland and leader of the Alliance party, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that bad faith actors had incited racism in the city.

“All of us were absolutely horrified and terrified in the wake of the brutal attack that took place in Belfast on Sunday night,” Long said. ” “if you’re driving people from their homes based on the colour of their skin you can’t dress that up any other way – it’s racism,” Long said.

She added that the individual who carried out the attack was one person and appealed for people to let the justice system take its course.

Police said the arrested man entered Northern Ireland across the Irish border in February 2023 after flying to Dublin from Paris. He claimed asylum upon arrival in Ireland and was granted leave to remain in the UK until 2028 in September 2023.