Belfast protests live: Homes and cars torched in night of 'thuggery' after stabbing

Belfast protests live: Homes and cars torched in night of 'thuggery' after stabbing Protesters have set fire to homes, vehicles and a bus in east Belfast in response to the arrest of a Sudanese man on suspicion of a knife attack Masked protesters have set fire to homes, cars and a bus as violent disorder erupted across north Belfast following the arrest of a Sudanese man following a brutal knife attack in the city. Footage captured has flames tearing through streets with thick smoke billowing into the sky as police clash with crowds amid the chaos. Northern Ireland's First Minister, Michelle O'Neill, condemned the "outright thuggery", saying that "groups of masked men burning families out of their homes is nothing less than disgusting cowardice". A 30-year-old man was charged with attempted murder, possession of an article with a blade or point in a public place and making threats to kill after footage circulated showing a man being stabbed in the head and back on Monday. The accused, who is Sudanese, is set to appear at Belfast Magistrates' Court today when he is expected to be named. The victim of the attack, a man in his 40s, remains in a serious condition in hospital, receiving treatment for serious eye, face and back wounds. Key Events - Calls for protests grew from anti-migrant groups over the course of yesterday as politicians and police called for calm, following the horrific knife attack on Monday night in Belfast where the suspect was Sudanese. - Photos show crowds of black-clad rioters gathered in Belfast with multiple reports of arson, as homes, cars and a bus were set alight by the mob. All public transport has been paused in the city as Northern Ireland Fire & Rescue Service says it attended 62 incidents overnight. - People were forced to flee their homes as houses were torched near the Crumlin Road in the north of the city. The mob was said to have been targeting non-white residents with a pastor at the scene telling the BBC that people were being put out of houses "because they're black". - Early in the evening a bus was set ablaze on Newtownards Road in east Belfast with homes nearby also catching fire - one family had to be rescued by emergency services. - Across the city cars, a police vehicle and a Turkish barbers were also set alight in a night of disorder in Belfast that Belfast MP Claire Hanna branded “a race-based pogrom” after “negative online actors” incited the violence. - This morning residents are waking up to devastation in Belfast. The suspect in Monday night's knife attack is due to appear in court this morning charged with attempted murder, possession of an article with blade or point in a public place and threats to kill. Yesterday politicians, police and local leaders called for calm. PSNI chief constable, Jon Boutcher, pleaded with the public to refrain from violence. "Please, please let the PSNI let the police do their job unfettered and undistracted by wider concerns," he said during a press conference at Stormont. Instead overnight violence erupted, with homes, cars and a bus torched as masked mobs rampaged through the streets of Belfast. First Minister Michelle O’Neill condemned the "outright thuggery". “Groups of masked men burning families out of their homes is nothing less than disgusting cowardice," she said. The suspect is set to appear in court. The 30-year-old accused, who is Sudanese, has been charged with attempted murder over the stabbing attack, possession of an article with a blade or point in a public place and making threats to kill. He will appear in the Belfast Magistrates' Court on Wednesday. In Northern Ireland, the authorities do not release the name of accused persons before they appear in court. Police and political leaders in Northern Ireland have appealed for calm after 'sporadic pockets of disorder' erupted across Belfast. A senior officer said police in the region are currently dealing with “sporadic pockets of disorder” in a number of locations. Northern Ireland's first minister has condemned the action on social media. Michelle O'Neill says that "groups of masked men burning families out of their homes is nothing less than disgusting cowardice". "This has nothing to do with community. This is outright thuggery," she adds. A family were left 'really, really scared' as protestors attempted to get into their house and threw fireworks, a resident who helped them told Sky News. The woman, who did not want to give her name, said people were trying to kick a man, his wife and their teenage daughter out of their house in the Shankill Road area. "I could just see them all going into the house," she said. "I don't know how I did it but I stopped every one of them from going into the bedroom." The woman added taht the family seemed "really, really scared". She continued: "I just said, come out with me, I'll help you, just come with me... I walked out with them and I could see people looking at me." She then shouted at demonstrators that the family were not involved in Monday night's attack. Police in Northern Ireland have ruled out a terror-related motivate for the attack at this point but detectives have stressed that the investigation is at a very early stage and they are keeping an open mind. The attack took place at about 10.30pm on Monday, June 8 in Kinnaird Avenue, a residential street close to the Antrim Road in north Belfast. Footage captured of the attack appears to show a man repeatedly stabbing at the head and neck of another man who is lying on the ground. The clip shows people, including one with a hurling stick, intervening to stop the assault continuing. Police arrived on the scene within minutes and a man was arrested. A kitchen knife was also recovered from the scene. Northern Ireland's Justice Minister Naomi Long said some people had ignored calls for calm. "They are intent on wreaking destruction on the very communities they claim they are trying to protect," Long said. "They are weaponising the genuine hurt, concern and anger that people are feeling for their own misguided purposes." "There is no place for masked thugs to take to the streets and threaten, intimidate, disrupt and cause wanton damage – it is simply disingenuous to claim this is being carried out for the good of Northern Ireland." Long said she would again appeal to communities "not to allow themselves to be used and abused in this manner." "Disorder on the streets, such as we are seeing tonight, is diverting valuable police resources away from those who genuinely need them," she said. "These are not the actions of people who genuinely care about their communities." "While I recognise and understand the concerns following on from the attack in north Belfast, hate cannot be allowed to win." Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) Assistant Chief Constable Ryan Henderson said on Tuesday evening: "Sporadic pockets of disorder have broken out in a number of locations across Northern Ireland this evening, including incidents in which a number of vehicles have been set on fire." "We are urging everyone to remain calm, act responsibly, and avoid any activity that could place themselves or others at risk." "Officers are on the ground, working alongside partner agencies, responding to incidents as they arise and helping to keep people safe." "We are again appealing for calm and ask all voices of influence within local communities to encourage peaceful protest and discourage any involvement in violence or disorder." A 30-year-old man was charged with attempted murder after a male suffered "significant injuries" to his face, neck and back on Monday night. The suspect is a Sudanese national. He will appear at Belfast Magistrates' Court on Wednesday. He is believed to have entered Northern Ireland via the Irish border in February 2023 after flying to Dublin from Paris. The suspect claimed asylum upon arrival and in September 2023 was granted leave to remain in the UK until 2028. He has also been charged with possession of an article with a blade or point in a public place and making threats to kill. The victim of Monday's horrific knife attack in Belfast has been named as Stephen Ogilvie. The victim in his 40s remained in a serious condition in hospital on Tuesday receiving treatment for serious eye, face and back wounds, the PSNI said. Read the full story here. Multiple homes are on fire across the city and fire fighters are working to get the blazes under control. Watercannnons have been utilised in Newtownabbey, with images showing firefighters tackling a house fire on Ligoniel Road with hoses. A group of men broke down the front door of a home while a woman from an ethnic minority background looked down from an upstairs window, reports the Guardian. The men attacked the downstairs windows with bricks while a woman in the crowd said to her friend: "There's wee girls inside". Northern Ireland's first minister says the attacks happening during protests in Belfast is "nothing less than disgusting cowardice". Posting to X, Michelle O'Neill wrote: "Groups of masked men burning families out of their homes is nothing less than disgusting cowardice. This has nothing to do with community. This is outright thuggery." She added there was "no justification" for the "attacks", and that: "Racism, intimidation and violence are wrong." Fire crews in Belfast have been called to multiple residential streets across the city where properties are on fire. A number of homes just off the Crumlin Road are ablaze as well as properties on Lendrick Street in east Belfast. North Belfast MP, Sinn Féin's John Finucane, has called today's disorder "shameful and disgraceful". "There is understandable disgust and revulsion at the horrific attempted murder that took place last night. I share that revulsion," he says. "But the scenes we are witnessing tonight, family homes attacked, cars burnt, damaged infrastructure and parts of our community in flames, are shameful and disgraceful. "No one has the right to spread fear, terrorise innocent families or unleash lawless disorder on our streets." He says the focus "must remain on supporting the victim". "The actions of those who are destroying their own communities are totally unacceptable. It is clear that the horrendous attack last night is being used to whip up fear, division and hatred. That must be called out." Images show police and fire crews on Lendrick Street in Belfast, where vehicles and a number of properties are seen on fire. Fire crews have arrived at the scene of a house fire on Lendrick Street in east Belfast. The home belongs to a man in his 30s, who says he's lived there for 10 years, reports the BBC. "Cars were set alight on the road, which caught fire to my house but masked men were bashing down doors," he said. Multiple buildings in Belfast have been set ablaze this evening. Locals have said one includes a Middle Eastern supermarket, according to Sky News. Roads are blocked in a number of locations in Belfast and in other parts of Northern Ireland. Several cars have been set on fire in Lendrick Street and in the Ligoniel Road area, and a police car was set alight in Portadown. Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly has urged protesters to "act in an entirely peaceful way". "I know all are horrified about what has happened. I know so many are angry and there are those who want to register a protest," she adds. But violence does not "advance any cause, it damages it," the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) minister says. "Destroying things within your own community benefits no one. Taking frustration at the evil actions of a person out on those who had no part in it is utterly wrong". Police are dealing with "sporadic pockets of disorder" in a number of locations in Northern Ireland, according to a senior police officer. Ryan Henderson, assistant chief constable of the PSNI, said incidents include a number of vehicles being set on fire. "We are urging everyone to remain calm, act responsibly, and avoid any activity that could place themselves or others at risk," he said. "Officers are on the ground, working alongside partner agencies, responding to incidents as they arise and helping to keep people safe." Firefighters have arrived to tackle to the burning bus on lower Newtownards Roads. A crowd of around 100 masked men were seen kicking in doors and breaking windows at McMaster Street in Lower Newtownards Road in east Belfast, reports the BBC. The group said they were "getting the foreigners out". Hundreds appear to have gathered in Belfast tonight following yesterday's attack. Footage shows busy streets and two fires burning in various parts of the city as crowds watch on. Disorder has continued across north Belfast, where a bus, car and bins have been set ablaze while thick black smoke rises above the city. Protesters who have engaged in standoffs with the police have been seen throwing objects, including traffic cones, at police vans. PSNI Assistant Chief Constable Ryan Henderson has called for calm as "sporadic pockets of disorder" have broken out in locations across Northern Ireland tonight. He urged members of the public act responsibly and avoid any activity that could place themselves or others at risk. "Officers are on the ground, working alongside partner agencies, responding to incidents as they arise and helping to keep people safe." Henderson asked "all voices of influence within local communities to encourage peaceful protest and discourage any involvement in violence or disorder". A large plume of smoke is seen pouring from the scene of a bus fire in Belfast. Crowds have gathered in the city to protest a stabbing that occurred on Monday night. Peter McReynolds, Alliance party assembly member for East Belfast, says he is "disgusted" at the "destruction and violence" on the Newtownards Road after a Gilder bus was set on fire. Posting to Facebook, McReynolds says: "This serves no one, changes nothing and damages our community. "Thoughts with the Glider staff, our community in fear this evening during this destruction and our under pressure PSNI officers facing down this violence this evening." A fire crew has reportedly been forced to leave an area of Belfast after they were approached by a masked man. Crews reportedly left an incident close to Lanyon Place after a masked man approached the fire appliance with a weapon, according to the Belfast Telegraph.