Anti-immigration figures seizing on outrage at Northern Ireland stabbing to drive people towards cause

Anti-immigration figures are using social media to exploit anger at the horrific stabbing of a man in Northern Ireland.

The attack on Stephen Ogilvie in Belfast, allegedly at the hands of a Sudanese migrant, has led to rioting in the city, with cars and homes destroyed by mobs of people wearing black clothing.

While the unrest has been widely condemned, including by the victim's family, some online are seizing on it to drive people towards anti-immigration politics.

British far-right activist Tommy Robinson — real name Stephen Yaxley-Lennon — is one of those who has been using his social media channel to fan the flames.

Included in Mr Robinson's many posts on the incident is a list of protest locations accompanied by the caption describing the attack as "yet another invader attack on our people".

The post has received more than 10 million views, according to X.

He later claimed that they are "not my protests" and said he was "merely passing on information".

Separately, he posted that "white people are under attack" and reposted a US right-wing influencer Jack Posobiec, who said "Remigration MUST commence".

Remigration is a notion linked to white nationalist ideology that calls for the mass deportation of non-European peoples from Western nations.

The owner of the X platform, Elon Musk, is another individual who has seized on the incident.

The tech billionaire wrote, "Only by protesting REPEATEDLY and LOUDLY will there be any change!", sharing Tommy Robinson's list of protest locations to his 240 million followers.

This post has received more than 8.5 million views, according to X.

He also shared a manipulated image of a Banksy artwork — depicting a judge hitting a protester with a gavel.

The original image shows the demonstrator holding a blank placard; the reposted image has "White lives matter" written on it.

Mr Musk and Mr Robinson were both singled out for criticism by the First Minister for Northern Ireland, Michelle O'Neill.

"There are bad actors that are jumping on this and actually using it to stir up hate and tension," the Sinn Féin vice president said.

"We see the likes of the Elon Musks of this world, or we see the Tommy Robinsons of this world.

"The keyboard warriors who are sitting right comfy in their homes, orchestrating hate and tension.

"And bringing this onto our streets and encouraging this on to our streets — I think people need to be alert to that, who's behind this," Ms O'Neill said.

Mr Musk also wrote "Only Restore Britain can save Britain. It is the only way", while amplifying a post by Restore Britain member of parliament, Rupert Lowe.

Mr Lowe's far-right Restore Britain party is trying to position itself as a competitor to Nigel Farage's Reform UK.

In response to the incident Mr Lowe has also posted "millions must go" with an image of the attacker.

Allegation of target list circulating

There are also unverified reports of lists of Belfast addresses being shared online via communication apps.

They claim to list the addresses of HMOs, or "House in multiple occupation" — a kind of accommodation which may contain several bedrooms and shared common areas.

They are sometimes used to accommodate migrants.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) has acknowledged the existence of the lists in a statement.

"Highlighting properties in this way is totally unacceptable. We have received phone calls from a number of families, house owners, neighbours and members of the wider community who are extremely distressed as a result of this reckless activity," the statement read.

"This is unacceptable. It is putting lives at risk and has to stop.

"Anyone who shares personal information online with the intention to endanger others may be committing a criminal offence," it read.

One Instagram post talking about the lists contained the following comment from a user.

"It's a list of registered HMOs in Belfast, I live at one of the addresses on the list and we're all either students or working in Belfast," the commenter claimed.

Fake videos of the unrest are also circulating, including showing flames over a city claiming, "Belfast is currently in flames".

The video actually shows the aftermath of a gas pipeline explosion in Russia's Dagestan region, with chants of "send them home" dubbed over the manipulated clip.