Homes set alight in Belfast anti-immigrant protests after 'brutal' knife attack

BELFAST: Masked men burned families out of their homes in Belfast in ‌a wave of anti-immigrant violence on Tuesday night after a Sudanese man was charged over a knife attack, Northern Ireland’s First Minister Michelle O’Neill said.

Hundreds of protesters, many with their faces covered, attacked police and burned vehicles in a number of locations across Northern Ireland after a video of the knife attack, which ​left one person with serious neck and head wounds, went viral.

A number of homes could be seen burning in ​the city on Tuesday evening. Video broadcast by the BBC showed police helping a family escape from ⁠a burning house.

“There can be no excuse and no justification for these attacks tonight,” O’Neill said in a statement. “Groups of masked men ​burning families out of their homes is nothing less than disgusting cowardice.”

‘SICKENING’ KNIFE ATTACK TRIGGERS VIOLENCE

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer described the ​initial knife attack, which took place in north Belfast late on Monday evening, as “sickening”.

The attack, which is currently not being treated as terrorism, comes at a time of heightened tensions in Britain following the murder of a student who was handcuffed by police as he lay dying from stab wounds after his ​killer, a Sikh man, falsely alleged a racist attack.

It also follows repeated protests about immigration, with populist parties saying Britain’s asylum policy ​had allowed dangerous men into the country. There was anti-immigrant rioting in Northern Ireland last year amid anger over an alleged sexual assault.

VEHICLES BURNED ACROSS ‌THE CITY

Masked ⁠youths gathered at points across Belfast early on Tuesday evening, with police responding by deploying armoured vehicles. Protesters set fire to a number of vehicles across the city, including a bus in east Belfast.

The BBC reported that a crowd of 100 men kicked in doors and broke windows of homes on a street in east Belfast.

“They’re getting put out just because they’re black,” Pastor Jack McKee told ​the BBC after attacks on homes ​in the north of the ⁠city.

The suspect in the stabbing, a 30-year-old Sudanese national, was charged on Tuesday evening with attempted murder, possession of an article with a blade or point in a public place and threats to ​kill.

He is due to appear at Belfast Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday.

The victim, a man in his ​40s, suffered significant ⁠injuries to his eyes and slash wounds to his face and back during the “brutal” attack, with a kitchen knife found at the scene, Northern Ireland’s Assistant Chief Constable Ryan Henderson said.

Footage showed a number of members of the public trying to fight off the attacker before police ⁠arrived, and they ​were credited by senior officers with saving the man’s life.

Northern Ireland’s main political ​party leaders jointly condemned the attack, calling it “horrific”, and also called for calm, saying disturbances would only damage their communities.