A man is in a serious condition in hospital after a brutal stabbing outside an apartment complex in north Belfast on Monday night. A man believed to be Sudanese and in his 30s has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder. Police have declared a critical incident. Keir Starmer said he had “absolutely no tolerance for abhorrent scenes of violence like this on our streets.” Nigel Farage called on authorities to immediately disclose the suspect’s immigration status. The Police Service of Northern Ireland has held emergency meetings to plan for potential unrest after far-right figures online called for people to take to the streets.
The attack took place at around 10:30pm on Monday outside an apartment complex in north Belfast. Graphic video, which circulated widely on social media before police made a formal appeal for it not to be shared, showed a man straddling another man on the ground and repeatedly striking at his head and neck. The clip also showed members of the public intervening to stop the assault – one man using a hurling stick against the attacker. The victim is in his 40s and has not been named.
What happened
Police attended the scene shortly after being alerted. The suspect was arrested at or near the scene. Officers had initially said the man was believed to be from Somalia, before clarifying he was believed to be Sudanese.
Assistant chief constable Ryan Henderson said: “This brutal attack will have sent shock waves through the community, causing real concern. I want to reassure the local community that we are treating this attack with the utmost seriousness. Officers were at the scene within minutes.”
He praised the members of the public who intervened: “We wish to acknowledge the members of the public who strived to save the man from further attack. Their willingness to step forward to help another person shows incredible bravery and community spirit.”
Henderson also made a specific appeal about the footage. “We urge people to not share or repost images or footage of the assault. Doing so risks causing further trauma to the injured man’s loved ones and may impact the ongoing investigation.”
Police said there is no indication at this stage that the attack had a terrorist motive.
Political responses
Keir Starmer was swift to respond. “I have absolutely no tolerance for abhorrent scenes of violence like this on our streets. My thoughts are first and foremost with the victim, and I thank the first responders, including members of the public who intervened.”
Naomi Long, the Stormont justice minister, echoed the police appeal not to share footage, saying the images were “deeply disturbing and traumatising to view.”
John Finucane, the Sinn Féin MP for north Belfast, visited the scene on Tuesday morning and described the attack as “appalling.”
Gavin Robinson, the DUP leader, was among the bluntest in his assessment. “This was medieval,” he told the BBC. “This was a systematic mutilation of a human being on the streets of Belfast.” He also asked police to clarify the circumstances of the incident, citing the risk of misinformation spreading.
Farage’s response – and the unrest concern
Nigel Farage posted on social media calling for the suspect’s identity and immigration status to be immediately disclosed by the authorities.
As we have documented extensively in our coverage of his response to Henry Nowak’s murder, this is a pattern. As we reported in our Farage Nowak cold rage piece, Farage responded to Nowak’s death within 24 hours of the family calling for calm, calling for “pure cold rage.” As we reported in our O’Brien analysis, James O’Brien described this approach as expressing “gleeful relish at the prospect of provoking more violent responses.” The Southampton riots followed within 48 hours.
New Opinium polling published this week showed that Farage’s Nowak response had the worst public approval rating of any party leader – as we reported in our Nowak polling piece.
The specific concern in Belfast is that Farage’s intervention arrives alongside far-right figures online explicitly calling for people to take to the streets wearing masks. The PSNI has held emergency meetings to draw up plans for how to deal with any potential unrest. The specific instruction to wear masks is notable: it suggests a level of premeditation and an awareness of consequences that goes beyond spontaneous public anger.
As we reported in our Leroy Logan Newsnight piece, the former Metropolitan Police superintendent said of Farage’s Nowak intervention: “This is clearly cause and effect – you’re fooling yourself if you think saying ‘rage’ and ‘white lives matter’ doesn’t impact on people assembling outside a police station.” The pattern Henderson’s police force is preparing for in Belfast is the same pattern Logan identified in Southampton.
A note on the reporting
Police have asked the public not to share or repost the footage of the attack. There is a specific and documented reason for this: it causes further trauma to the victim and his family, and may compromise the ongoing investigation. We have not and will not embed, link to or describe the footage beyond what is necessary to report the facts of what occurred.
The PSNI is investigating the incident. A suspect is in custody. An injured man is in hospital. Those are the facts. Everything else is, at present, speculation – and the PSNI’s request that the public allow the investigation to proceed without prejudice is reasonable and should be respected.
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