RIOTS WHICH SAW buses, homes and cars destroyed, as well as masked men raiding homes in Belfast on the night of 9 June, began as protests in response to a horrific knife attack the night before.

The riots follow other instances of violence during anti-migrant protests prompted by crimes, and which were promoted by far-right figures who used incendiary languages targeting ethnic minorities and migrants.

In July 2024, further riots spread across Northern Ireland as well as England and Wales, following the fatal stabbing of three children at a dance workshop in Wales. Before the riots, false rumours spread online that the Welsh-born attacker was a Muslim or an asylum seeker.

Two Roma 14-year-old boys were accused of attempting to rape a teenage girl in Ballymena last summer. The charges were later dropped, but the allegations prompted weeks of riots started a year ago to the day yesterday, which saw cars destroyed, homes of racial minorities attacked, a leisure centre set alight, and more than 100 police officers injured.

The riots, which often targeted minorities, prompted dozens of Roma and Bulgarian families to flee the town, and would later spread to other Northern Irish towns and cities, including Belfast.

More recently, there were riots in Southampton on the southern coast of England on 2 June, following the sentencing of a British Sikh man who had stabbed a college student to death in December and falsely said the victim had attacked him over his race.

The recent unrest in Belfast was prompted by an attack on Monday night, leading to a victim losing his left eye as well as sustaining serious injuries to his remaining eye, as and deep lacerations to his face and back.

By the mid-morning following the assault, video of the attack was widely shared on social media — sometimes censored with blurring or a warning label, often not. The video appears to show a man straddling the victim while shouting and holding a knife, at one stage against the man’s head.

The video also showed bystanders, including one holding a hurley stick, intervening to help the victim.

However, along with the video, misinformation also spread online, including claims that the victim was a child and had died from their wounds; the latter claim was shared by an Irish county councillor.

False claims that the man had been decapitated were also widely shared online.

Irish far-right figures quickly used the attack to push anti-immigration agendas.

“Ban all immigration from the 3rd world IMMEDIATELY!” Conor McGregor, the mixed martial artist who had attempted to run for president on an anti-immigration agenda, wrote under a video of a police press conference on the case.

That X post was viewed more than three million times. Another, also posted on 9 June, demanding to “close the borders” and “enter IPAS centres militarily”, was viewed more than 4,100,000 times.

One of many cars firebombed during an anti-immigration protest in Belfast Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

Social media posts also encouraged people to protest against immigration in other cities in the UK, and in Dublin, in response to the crime. A small protest was held today on O’Connell Street.

In the UK, social media posts quickly began promoting protests. By the early afternoon, social media posts demanding a “lockdown” of Belfast were shared widely.

Accounts on X began calling for action from early yesterday afternoon, posting remarks like “enough is enough”, “it is about to go down” and “civil war is coming”.

Soon, lists promoting road closures in Belfast were shared on social media, including in fringe accounts and groups, and were forwarded on WhatsApp. 

AI-generated images promoting road closures were also shared with claims that businesses in the city had agreed to close early to facilitate protests. 

A list of protest locations posted just after 2pm by far-right activist Tommy Robinson was viewed more than 8,400,000 times on X.

“All businesses to close at 5.30pm tonight,” a post by Robinson read. “No excuses”.

The post would also be re-shared by the owner of X, Elon Musk, who added “Only by protesting REPEATEDLY and LOUDLY will there be any change!!” in a post viewed 6,900,000 times.

Robinson would continue to post extensively about Belfast last night, including uploading AI image of a firefighter with his hands in his pockets gloating in front of a burning home as a black man pleads: “my house is on fire”.

Inflammatory rhetoric was also posted by elected officials.

“These atrocities will keep happening. The barbarians are already inside the gates,” Rupert Lowe, an MP and the leader of the Restore Britain party, wrote at 6.18am on the morning of the riots.

“We must stop harbouring those who wish to decapitate children,” he wrote on a Facebook post three hours later. ”Millions and millions need to leave or be made to leave.”

Vehicles set on fire by protesters on Lendrick Street in Belfast Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

Another well-known figure, Jamie Bryson, a unionist activist who came to prominence during protests over a decrease in the days the union flag would fly over Belfast City Hall, would write on X on the night of the stabbing “Enoch Powell was right”, referring to a British politician famous for a racist 1960s speech.

On Monday, the PSNI called for “calm” ahead of expected protests and urged those taking part not to be violent. 

Northern Ireland’s major political parties also released a rare joint statement calling for “calm and for space to allow justice to take its course”.

Protesters gathered in Belfast from 6pm onwards, though demonstrations were quickly marred by scenes of violence. The BBC reported that a bus was set on fire shortly after 8.15pm.

This was soon followed by other buses, bins, and houses being set on fire. Homes were raided and destroyed during the riots. Videos and images showed masked men roaming the streets, in some cases kicking in doors and saying that they were looking for immigrants. 

A Northern Ireland fire service spokesperson said it had managed 256 calls resulting in attendance at 62 incidents between 7pm and midnight.

Other protests held in towns across Northern Ireland, including Derry and Ballymena, including others that also broke into violence. 

The family of the victim today condemned the protests.

“We want to make it absolutely clear that overnight unrest is not welcome, and peaceful protest is the only way forward,” they said.

They also noted Northern Ireland is home to “many migrants who make a deeply valuable contribution to our country, including in our healthcare system and hospitality sector and we depend on them to make our country work”.

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