Belfast stabbing fallout: social media posts helped ignite anti-migrant violence

Disturbing footage of a knife attack in Belfast has been used by far-right accounts in Britain and internationally, intensifying violent protests overnight that authorities were concerned might flare up again by Wednesday evening.

The 54-second video, captured by an unidentified witness, was shared on X late Monday by far-right activist Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, who is better known as Tommy Robinson.

The clip appeared on his account about an hour after police reported that a man in his 40s had been seriously injured in a stabbing on a street in north Belfast. The victim has been identified as Stephen Ogilvie.

Yaxley-Lennon’s post was quickly circulated online, prompting numerous reactions, including a surge of xenophobic comments and racist memes.

X’s owner Elon Musk—who has over 240 million followers on his platform—was among those who amplified the far-right reaction to the incident.

As the attack footage spread across X, especially on UK-based anti-immigration accounts, inflammatory posts emerged online with demands like all migrants must leave Britain.

Within hours, the video had also reached Facebook and was notably shared on a page in the Republic of Ireland, which called for all Muslims to be "ejected."

Another account based in Northern Ireland repeatedly urged people to join mass protests.

Some Facebook users also posted an AI-generated image showing African migrants on a small boat being struck by a man with a hurling stick.

This happened after a local man interrupted the Belfast stabbing by warding off the attacker with a hurling stick, an act of bravery widely credited with saving Ogilvie’s life.

Watchdog warning

Hadi Alodid, 30, a refugee originally from Sudan, appeared at Belfast Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday to face charges of attempted murder and other offenses related to the attack.

Beyond the UK, misinformation about the attack came from a U.S.-based account that falsely claimed Ogilvie was beheaded.

Meanwhile in Europe, Dutch far-right activist Eva Vlaardingerbroek—a longtime ally of Yaxley-Lennon—compared the Belfast footage to "genocidal violence."

Britain’s media regulator Ofcom on Wednesday called on platforms to curb the dissemination of posts inciting violence following the unrest that erupted in Belfast late Tuesday.

Anti-migrant Facebook pages openly celebrated footage of masked rioters setting homes ablaze, prompting hundreds of enthusiastic comments.

Some users added uplifting soundtracks to videos of burning houses and mocked fleeing ethnic minority residents.

The events were also covered by Turning Point UK, the British chapter of the conservative activist group founded by the late Charlie Kirk, in a series of anti-migrant posts.

The Committee on the Administration of Justice (CAJ), a human rights group based in Belfast, warned in a report last year that social media was exacerbating riots and racially-motivated violence in Northern Ireland.

The UK province, with its troubled history of sectarian violence, experienced racially-motivated riots in 2024 and last year.