Thousands rally in Belfast after anti-immigrant riots and arson attacks

Thousands of people gathered outside Belfast City Hall on Saturday to push back against anti-immigrant violence, turning a city center rally into a public rebuke of the arson and street disorder that swept parts of Northern Ireland earlier in the week. The turnout, about 5,000 by one estimate, made the scale of the backlash plain: Belfast was not speaking with one voice, but with two competing civic identities, one defined by fear and retaliation, the other by an explicit rejection of racism and collective blame.

The unrest began after a stabbing on June 8 in north Belfast left a man in his 40s with serious injuries to his eyes, face and back. Police treated the case as a critical incident, and Hadi Alodid, a 30-year-old Sudanese man, was charged with attempted murder and remanded in custody. Within hours, the assault was being weaponized by anti-immigrant agitators, and two nights of disorder followed across parts of Northern Ireland.

Masked protesters set fire to homes, vehicles, a bus, a police car and a Glider bus, while properties believed to house immigrants were also targeted. During the second night of violence, police used water cannons to try to contain the unrest. The victim’s family appealed for calm, warning that the attack should not be used to divide people or fuel hostility, a plea that stood in sharp contrast to the images of fire and masked crowds that had circulated through the city during the week.

Saturday’s rally was organized by Unite Against Racism and backed by trade unions. Demonstrators carried anti-racism placards and slogans that directly confronted the violence and the rhetoric behind it, including “Hate is the only threat to our streets” and “Belfast stands against racism.” Northern Ireland Justice Minister Naomi Long said commentators on the far right were trying to stoke racial tensions, while UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer called the scenes completely unacceptable. For Belfast, the speed with which a single stabbing spiraled into arson, intimidation and counter-mobilization underscored how quickly criminal violence can be turned into a political weapon, and how many residents remain determined to resist that turn.