U.K. leaders called for calm Tuesday after a Sudanese asylum seeker was charged with attempted murder in connection with a stabbing in north Belfast, and protesters in several cities took to the streets in anti-immigration demonstrations.
The victim, a man in his 40s, was hospitalized with severe injuries to his eyes, face and back after the attack late Monday, police said. The suspect, 30, who was not publicly named, was charged with attempted murder, possession of a knife in a public place and making threats to kill, and remained in custody. Police recovered a kitchen knife from the scene.
Assistant Chief Constable Ryan Henderson of the Police Service of Northern Ireland said officers were trying to determine a motive but that there was no information to suggest the attack, which was caught on video, was terrorism-related. He added that police were not seeking other suspects.
“This brutal attack will have sent shock waves through the community, causing real concern,” Henderson said.
As news of the suspect’s immigration status spread, protesters gathered in parts of Belfast. In east Belfast, demonstrators wearing black hoodies and some with masks torched a bus and set cars and trash bins on fire. In Southampton, England, protesters held signs reading “Illegal Migration Is Destroying Our Civilisation” outside a hotel that houses asylum seekers, despite the fact that the victim and the convicted killer in a recent separate stabbing there were both British.
That earlier case — the December killing of university student Henry Nowak, who was stabbed to death by Vickrum Digwa, a Sikh man who falsely claimed to police that Nowak had attacked him — had already fueled protests and political debate. Digwa was sentenced last week to life in prison with a minimum 21-year term. The case was seized on by activists and by U.S. Vice President JD Vance, who blamed immigration for the violence.
The Belfast attack prompted immediate questions about the suspect’s immigration status. Gavin Robinson, the leader of the Democratic Unionist Party, urged authorities to curb “uncontrolled immigration.”
Northern Ireland Chief Constable Jon Boutcher told reporters that the suspect was living in the U.K. under a five-year visa granted in September 2023. Boutcher said he was believed to have traveled from Sudan to Paris and Dublin before claiming asylum in Belfast. The suspect was not known to Northern Irish police, Boutcher added.
When asked about the suspect’s status in Parliament, Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn said he could not confirm whether the alleged attacker entered the U.K. illegally. Prime Minister Keir Starmer condemned the attack as “sickening” and said that he had “no tolerance for abhorrent scenes of violence like this on our streets.” His office issued a statement calling for calm, saying “it’s important that police have the time and space to investigate appropriately.”
Police and senior politicians urged the public not to share the graphic video of the attack that circulated online or to spread disinformation about the situation. Northern Ireland’s leaders and the chief constable also appealed to people not to incite hate and fear or target particular communities.