Addresses alleged to belong to immigrants shared online during Belfast unrest
Police in Northern Ireland confirmed that lists of residential addresses claimed to be linked to immigrant families were circulated on closed social media platforms amid anti-immigration riots following a knife attack.
Violent anti-immigration protests in Belfast escalated into rioting after a knife attack on Monday, prompting the online circulation of lists purporting to identify immigrant homes. The lists, shared on private messaging services such as WhatsApp, contained more than two dozen Belfast addresses and, in a separate instance, the names and locations of several immigration lawyers.
The Police Service of Northern Ireland said it was aware of the postings and had received calls from families and neighbours who were "extremely distressed as a result of this reckless activity." It described the practice of highlighting private properties as "totally unacceptable."
The unrest followed a widely shared video of the stabbing, in which a 30-year-old Sudanese asylum seeker was charged with attempted murder and other offences. The victim survived after civilians intervened before police arrived.
Health officials reported that some international staff at Ulster Hospital felt intimidated and were "too frightened to come to work" after a nurse was chased by masked men. A member of the Social Democratic & Labour Party, Claire Hanna, told a news programme that protesters had gone door-to-door looking for immigrants.
Prominent public figures, including Elon Musk and Nigel Farage, shared the video of the attack and called for mass protests, though there is no evidence they distributed the address lists. Police said the stabbing was not being treated as terrorism and that the investigation was ongoing.
The Belfast disturbances occurred a week after anti-immigration protests in Southampton, which were sparked by a separate killing involving a Sikh man and a white college student.
