Northern Ireland police, British politicians appeal for calm after Belfast attack
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A knife attack in Northern Ireland shocked onlookers on Monday night, sent a man to hospital in critical condition and sparked tensions in the United Kingdom at a time when questions about immigration, police and anonymous internet data are at the forefront of political discourse.
The attack took place in north Belfast, with a 40-year-old man in hospital with what police described as “serious injuries” to his face, neck and back. Democratic Unionist Party leader Gavin Robinson described the attack as “medieval” in nature.
“This is a serious attack and I have declared this a serious incident. We have launched an investigation to determine the motive,” Ryan Henderson, deputy chief constable of Northern Ireland, said in a statement.
Police have scheduled a news conference in Belfast on Tuesday afternoon to update the investigation.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer called the attack “sickening” in a statement.
“I have absolutely no tolerance for incidents of such disgusting violence on our streets,” he said.
First Minister Michelle O’Neill of Sinn Féin and leaders from all political constituencies in Northern Ireland issued a joint statement on Tuesday condemning the attack, expressing sympathy for the victim and his family, and calling for calm.
“It is important that the facts be found through proper investigation and due process,” said the leaders.
Farage posts a photo of the attack on social media
These leaders followed the call of Henderson and the police, urging those on social media to stop sharing or retweeting what were described as graphic videos or photos related to the incident.
“Nothing good will come from sharing or turning on each other in this society, including the voices of voices on the Internet who do not know or care about us and do not care about the future,” said Claire Hanna, leader of the Social Democratic and Labor Party, separately.
The leaders’ statement came after Reform UK leader Nigel Farage did just that, reposting a picture of a man with his arm raised and kneeling in the street, with facial expressions for the two people in the picture.
Police said the suspect, who is believed to be in his 30s, is facing a charge of attempted murder.
After identifying the suspect as Somali, police in Northern Ireland said he was of Sudanese origin. It was not clear if he was born in the United Kingdom.
The North West Migrants Forum, a non-profit organization that helps bring together those who arrived in Northern Ireland, said in a statement that it was “shocked” by the incident, while commending bystanders who rushed to help the victim or help apprehend the attacker.
The organization appealed for silence, referring to decades of deadly violence between Catholics and Protestants that largely ended with agreements negotiated in 1998.
“The majority of people who come through our doors just want to live in peace and build a life for themselves and their families,” the statement said. “Northern Ireland is well aware of the danger of blaming an entire community for the actions of an individual or a small group.”
Tensions have risen
The attack happened before a speech planned by the leader of the British opposition, Kemi Badenoch, where he was discussing equality laws and the police.
The Tory leader called on the police to “get the facts out quickly so we can get clarity” on the incident in Belfast.
Badenoch in his speech said he believed that the fear of being seen as a racist interfered with police action and investigations in other incidents, including the murder of Henry Nowak, the murder of three girls in Southport by a man with a history of behavior and reports of many years of sexual abuse by gangs targeting children.
The issue of race and the police has come to the fore in recent weeks as other circumstances have emerged that affect the police’s response to the killing of Nowak, 18, in December.
Hampshire police handcuffed Nowak as he lay dying of stab wounds after another man at the scene lied that Nowak had committed a racist attack.
The killer, a British-born Sikh man, was sentenced to life in prison last week, and several people were arrested the following night in a protest organized by Farage and far-right leader Tommy Robinson.
Downing Street issued a statement backtracking after US Vice President JD Vance linked the death of 18-year-old Henry Nowak to immigration and what he described as the collapse of civilization in Europe.
The incident of Nowak’s murder has also led to another conflict between Britain and the US. The State Department, in a social media post about Nowak’s murder, said that “the ideological situation and the divided police force are clear signs of the collapse of civilization.”
US Vice President JD Vance said on social media that Nowak would be alive “if the last few generations of Europeans had not stood up against the politics of self-hatred and the massive onslaught of immigrants, many of whom despise the West and the people it loves.”
Vance’s comments ignored the fact that Nowak was a citizen of England and Poland, with at least one grandparent born in an eastern European country. They were also reprimanded by Starmer’s office and Secretary of State David Lammy, who said he spoke to the vice president – with whom he has developed a good relationship – after the comments.
The British government emphasized that Nowak’s family has urged people not to exploit their son’s death for political purposes.
