Belfast, on alert after an attempted beheading that ignites social media

LondonBelfast is preparing for an evening of tension this Tuesday after the brutal knife attack that last night left a man seriously injured in a neighborhood in the north of the capital of Northern Ireland. The images of the assault, widely disseminated on social networks – we are not showing them due to their extreme brutality – have had up to 19 million views on X.

The assault has provoked a wave of indignation and has fueled protest calls for the early evening hours of this Tuesday. Far-right formations – the Reform Party (RP), led by Nigel Farage, and Restore Britain, an even more radical split from the RP, headed by MP Rupert Lowe – have attempted to politicize and capitalize on the incident, and to blame immigration for the lack of public safety in the country.

Michelle O'Neill, the First Minister of Northern Ireland, and other members of the autonomous government have called for calm at a press conference from Stormont, the seat of the country's assembly. The police, for their part, have asked not to speculate on social networks.

The attack occurred around 10:30 PM on Kinnaird Avenue. According to the Northern Ireland police (PSNI), the victim, a man in his forties, a Northern Irishman according to initial witnesses, suffered very serious injuries to an eye, face, neck, and back. The attacker, a Sudanese man in his thirties, was arrested at the scene on suspicion of attempted murder, after being stabbed several times with a kitchen knife.

Videos recorded by residents of the area show the attacker immobilizing a white man on the ground, sitting on his neck and chest, while trying to strangle him. Several witnesses intervened to stop the attack, including a neighbor who hit the suspect with a hurling stick – the national sport of Ireland – an action that both the police and several political leaders have described as "heroic" for having helped save the victim.

According to the Deputy Chief of the Northern Ireland police, Ryan Henderson, the suspect obtained his residence permit in the United Kingdom on September 28, 2023. According to initial information, the man traveled from Sudan to Paris and subsequently flew to Dublin before traveling by bus to Belfast, where he applied for asylum on February 10, 2023. Henderson specified that this timeline is still pending official verification by the Ministry of the Interior.

Police also indicated that the detainee did not appear in any national security database nor was he known to police services in Northern Ireland. Despite the brutality of the attack, authorities assure that, for the moment, they have not found any indication that allows linking him to terrorism.

The gravity of the images has once again fueled the debate on immigration and security. The dramatic attempted murder takes place a week after the police of Southampton released the images of the arrest, last December, of an 18-year-old young man, Henry Nowak, as he was dying after being stabbed up to five times by a man of Sikh religion. The police confusion of the victim for the aggressor also led to the politicization of the incident and violent riots in the city, following a protest demonstration fueled from social networks by Farage's far-right.

This Tuesday at midday, the police in Northern Ireland confirmed that the detainee had obtained a residence permit in the United Kingdom after entering the country from the Republic of Ireland via Dublin. The authorities have insisted that, for the moment, there are no indications that the attack is related to any terrorist motivation.

Call for calm

The revelation of the suspect's nationality and immigration status has intensified the political reaction in the country. The leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), Gavin Robinson, stated in the House of Commons that the man had been residing in the country on a five-year visa and called for him to be deported if convicted. Other figures on the British right and far-right have also demanded greater transparency regarding the circumstances of the case.

Meanwhile, security forces have called for calm in the face of protest calls already circulating online. Some establishments and hotels in the centre of Belfast have reinforced security measures due to fears that the gatherings could lead to disturbances like those last week in Southampton, which ended with 11 police officers injured and two people arrested. The police have recalled episodes of violence recorded in recent years in Northern Ireland following criminal cases with strong media impact and have warned that any disruption to public order would only worsen the situation.

In this regard, the Methodist Church of Ireland has "firmly condemned" the attack, but has warned that these events "increase the anxiety and fear of minority groups, who are an integral part of our communities." In a statement, it said it also "firmly condemns any attempt to inflame tensions, spread misinformation, or sow division." The Church urged people to act with "calm and responsibility," and asked community leaders to "provide forums where genuine concerns can be expressed."

The victim remains hospitalised in serious condition, while the investigation attempts to clarify the motive for an attack that has shocked the city and threatens to reopen social and political tensions over immigration and coexistence in Northern Ireland.