A fire burns during a protest after a knife attack on June 8 left a man seriously injured and prompted police to declare a critical incident, on Newtownards Road in Belfast, Northern Ireland, on June 9, 2026.
| Photo Credit: Reuters
Protesters on Tuesday (June 9, 2026) torched a bus and other vehicles and blocked arterial roads in Belfast a day after a brutal stabbing by a Sudanese suspect that sparked anti-immigration protests.
Northern Irish police and British authorities issued repeated calls for calm earlier on Tuesday (June 9) following the attack captured in a gruesome video that shocked the country.
The suspect, whose name has not been released, was charged on late Tuesday (June 9) with attempted murder, possession of a bladed weapon in a public place and making threats to kill. The 30-year-old man is due to appear in court on Wednesday (June 10).
Protests erupt in Belfast
The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) vowed to increase its presence on the British province’s streets after footage shared online of Monday night’s incident drew shock, condemnation and demands for immediate demonstrations.
From 7:00 p.m. (0600 GMT), hundreds of protesters, many masked, began gathering at various locations in Belfast. Smoke rose from different parts of the city, which was being overflown by police helicopters, according to AFP journalists.
The U.K. Interior Ministry confirmed the Sudanese suspect entered the country in 2023 and acquired refugee status the same year, allowing him to remain until 2028.
Counter protesters demonstrate against protesters during an “Enough is Enough” protest, in Southampton, England, Tuesday June 9, 2026, after the arrest of a Sudanese man accused of a stabbing in Belfast sparked anti-immigration protests.
| Photo Credit:
AP
PSNI Chief Constable Jon Boutcher told reporters the man had first travelled from Sudan to the French capital Paris, before flying to Dublin and then taking a bus to Belfast.
“There is no trace of this suspect on any of our national security databases, and he was not known to the Police Service of Northern Ireland,” he said.
Northern Irish MP Gavin Robinson, from the pro-U.K. Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), said in Parliament the incident “will have profound implications for community cohesion in this country”.
He urged the government to “recognise that uncontrolled immigration needs to end”.
Immigration has become a hot-button issue in Britain, and helped fuel the rise of the hard-right Reform U.K. party in the polls.
Published – June 10, 2026 02:17 am IST
