Police in Northern Ireland Thursday prepared for further disorder, as anti-immigration riots may enter its third night. The unrest erupted after a brutal street stabbing Monday involving Sudanese national Hadi Alodid, who has been charged for attempted murder following his attack on Stephen Ogilvie. False and outdated images have been fanning the flames online, amplified by far-right voices like Tommy Robinson and Elon Musk.
Two nights of unrest in Belfast saw dozens of masked protesters clash with riot police, vehicles and buildings set alight with residents saying they feel unsafe leaving their homes.
Online on social media, false imagery and claims have been stoking anger and spreading misinformation, amplified by anti-immigration voices like Tommy Robinson and Elon Musk.
Robinson - or Stephen Yaxley-Lennon - posted then deleted a video that he claimed showed angry protesters setting alight a house share used by asylum seekers in Belfast: "HMO's being used to house unvetted fighting age foreign men are being burned down."
In reality, the video is unrelated to the current unrest in Belfast, dating back to a separate incident a year ago that saw anti-immigration riots in the Northern Irish town of Ballymena. Another video posted last year shows the same house and same blaze.
Another viral video that racked up over a million views claimed to show a Belfast landscape burning, with audio of protesters and chanting in the background. It was captioned “The Irish are ready to burn the city of Belfast down to the ground over Sudanese migrants trying to behead native Irish people." The video shared however, is not even from the same continent. It's from recent explosions on a pipeline in the Republic of Dagestan in southwestern Russia, with the audio altered make it seem its linked to Belfast.
Similarly, there’s also been photos wrongly-identifying the victim of the knife attack. A post from Facebook claimed the stabbing victim Stephen Ogilvie had passed away from decapitation, that he was assaulted by a Somali man, whilst using a fake photo of someone else. The assailant has been confirmed as a Sudanese asylum seeker Hadi Alodid, and the photograph depicts an anti-immigrant protester Danny Tommo, who has been documenting his time on the streets during the Belfast riots.
Stephen Ogilvie's family, after having seen a lot of false information, gave a statement to police confirming Ogilvie is in stable condition in hospital. They also they "do not want this terrible tragedy to be used to divide people or fuel hostility" and that they believe there are "many many migrants who make a deeply valuable contribution to our country," as they called for peacefuul protest.
