“Of course I’m not used to it,” she said. “I understand the people’s rage but also there are ways of discussing these things more peacefully”.
Sky television showed other buildings on fire.
Police helicopters patrolled above the city and shops were also closed early.
Michelle O’Neill, the First Minister of Northern Ireland, slammed the protests and urged calm.
“Groups of masked men burning families out of their homes is nothing less than disgusting cowardice,” she said on X.
“Racism, intimidation and violence are wrong wherever they occur. There can be no excuse and no justification for these attacks tonight. No one wants to see this on our streets and I again appeal for calm”.
Crowds also gathered in Antrim, around 25 kilometres (15 miles) west of Belfast.
US tech billionaire Elon Musk had earlier retweeted a post by anti-immigration activist Stephen Yaxley-Lennon — also known as Tommy Robinson — adding: “Only by protesting REPEATEDLY and LOUDLY will there be any change!!”.
The suspect in the knife attack, whose name has not been released, was charged late Tuesday with attempted murder, possession of a bladed weapon in a public place and making threats to kill. The 30-year-old man is due to appear in court on Wednesday.
As anti-immigration figures, including Reform party leader Nigel Farage and Restore Britain leader Rupert Lowe, demanded details about the attacker, the interior ministry confirmed he was a Sudanese refugee with a residence permit valid until 2028.
Northern Ireland police chief Jon Boutcher said he had arrived in the UK in 2023 via Paris and Dublin.
‘Fear to anger’
A 31-year-old mother-of-one who lives nearby said the incident had terrified the neighbourhood. “We’re just living in fear now,” she told AFP.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer called the incident “horrific” and “sickening” on X.
The leaders of Northern Ireland’s five main political parties issued a joint statement condemning the incident, saying “there is no place in our society for this kind of brutality”.
“We call for calm and for space to allow justice to take its course,” it added.
The leaders and police urged people not to share the video, noting its “graphic nature would only serve to retraumatise those involved”.
But numerous social media accounts linked to so-called “patriots” were sharing the footage, urging people to “protest against mass immigration into their communities”.
US tech billionaire Elon Musk retweeted a post by anti-immigration activist Stephen Yaxley-Lennon – also known as Tommy Robinson – adding: “Only by protesting REPEATEDLY and LOUDLY will there be any change!!”.
Henderson said he understood people were “feeling a range of emotions, from fear to anger”.
“Our officers have a role to facilitate and accommodate peaceful protest,” he said, while cautioning against a repeat of racially-motivated riots last June.
That followed two Romanian teenagers being charged with the alleged attempted rape of a schoolgirl in Ballymena, northwest of Belfast. The charges were later dropped “on evidential grounds”.
‘Implications’
The UK interior ministry confirmed the Sudanese suspect entered the country in 2023 and acquired refugee status the same year, allowing him to remain until 2028.
PSNI Chief Constable Jon Boutcher told reporters the man had first travelled from Sudan to the French capital Paris, before flying to Dublin and then taking a bus to Belfast.
“There is no trace of this suspect on any of our national security databases, and he was not known to the Police Service of Northern Ireland,” he said.
Henderson had earlier said the suspect lived near the scene of the attack.
Northern Irish MP Gavin Robinson, from the pro-UK Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), said in Parliament the incident “will have profound implications for community cohesion in this country”.
He urged the Government to “recognise that uncontrolled immigration needs to end”.
Immigration has become a hot-button issue in Britain, and helped fuel the rise of the hard-right Reform UK party in the polls.
Some social media accounts posted numerous Northern Irish locations where protests were planned late Tuesday, noting businesses had been urged to close from 5.30pm local time.
Yaxley-Lennon also shared posts urging demonstrations in dozens of mainland UK towns and cities.
– AFP
