Police Scotland says attacks in Glasgow were race motivated amid unrest

Police Scotland said attackers targeted people in Glasgow “because of the colour of their skin” as unrest swept into the city centre after a stabbing in Belfast. Three men, aged 31, 18 and 18, were arrested and charged in connection with various offences, while two officers and three members of the public were injured in Glasgow.

The disorder brought a heavy police response to the area around St Enoch shopping centre and Buchanan Street, where dozens of officers, riot vans and a helicopter were deployed. Part of Glasgow city centre was closed down as tensions rose and masked marchers moved through the area.

Worshippers at Glasgow Central Mosque, Glasgow’s largest mosque, were locked in for their own safety as the scene outside deteriorated. Scottish Labour leader and Glasgow MSP Anas Sarwar said the atmosphere was intimidating, particularly for people from minority backgrounds, and condemned the disorder as public anger gave way to openly racist violence.

Demonstrations also took place in Edinburgh, Falkirk, Perth, Ayr and Paisley on Tuesday, June 9, 2026, but police said the response elsewhere remained conventional and no arrests were reported at the peaceful gatherings. The contrast between those marches and the violence in Glasgow underscored how quickly a single flashpoint can spread into wider communal tension and street disorder.

The unrest in Scotland followed a stabbing in North Belfast on Monday night, June 8, 2026, that has already helped fuel anti-immigration protests and disorder in Northern Ireland. A 30-year-old Sudanese man, Hadi Alodid, appeared at Belfast Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday charged with attempted murder over the attack on 44-year-old Stephen Ogilvie, who was said to have lost an eye.

Police in Northern Ireland and ministers have condemned the racist violence, and the Prime Minister also denounced the disorder. In Glasgow, the arrests and injuries now form part of a broader pattern of retaliation, where one violent episode has triggered abuse, fear and public disorder far beyond the original attack.