Belfast unrest forces families from homes after knife attack

Families were forced out of their homes in Belfast after fire spread along Lendrick Street and other streets, as a night of unrest pushed residents into the path of smoke, flames and masked crowds. Police helped one family escape a burning house while cars, homes and businesses were attacked across the city and beyond, leaving several communities shaken and on edge.

The violence erupted on Tuesday night after a knife attack in north Belfast the previous evening left Stephen Ogilvie, a man in his 40s, with serious injuries to his eyes, face and back. He remained in hospital in serious condition on Wednesday, June 10, while police charged a 30-year-old Sudanese man with attempted murder, possession of an article with a blade or point in a public place and making threats to kill. He was due to appear in Belfast Magistrates’ Court.

The disorder spread well beyond the scene of the stabbing. A Glider bus was set alight in east Belfast, a police car was burned in Portadown, and masked groups attacked homes, vehicles and businesses in several parts of Belfast and elsewhere in Northern Ireland. Emergency services attended up to 62 incidents, and the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service said it received 256 calls between 7pm and midnight and needed an extra 21 fire appliances, mostly in the Greater Belfast area.

The unrest unfolded after video of the knife attack circulated online, a detail that helped fuel anti-immigration mobilisation and drew in far-right voices calling for protests. Reuters and other outlets reported that the violence carried anti-immigrant and racially targeted elements, with masked groups moving through neighbourhoods and setting fires that forced residents to flee. In one of the starkest scenes, homes on Lendrick Street were evacuated as flames took hold, underscoring how quickly a single assault escalated into wider disorder.

Political leaders and the victim’s family urged calm as the damage mounted. Naomi Long, the Northern Ireland Justice Minister, said people were left “terrified and terrorised in their homes” and condemned what she described as horrific and shameful scenes. Michelle O’Neill said there was “no excuse and no justification” for the attacks and called the violence “disgusting cowardice.” Keir Starmer described the stabbing as “sickening” and later condemned the unrest as “unacceptable.”

The violence added to already heightened tension over immigration in Northern Ireland, where anti-immigrant rioting last year left communities wary of how quickly rumor and grievance can spill into street conflict again.