Belfast Knife Attack Victim’s Family Praise Migrants’ ‘Valuable Contribution’ As Violence Erupts Again

The family of the Belfast knife attack victim have praised migrants’ “deeply valuable contribution” to society as violence once again erupted in Northern Ireland.

Police had to deploy water cannons on protesters in County Antrim after they were pelted with bricks in the latest disorder.

Dozens of men dressed all in black and wearing face coverings could be seen tearing bricks from properties and smashing paving stones with sledgehammers to throw at riot police.

Videos shared on social media also showed protesters attempting to march to a hotel which has been used to house migrants.

It came after families were burned out of their homes in what has been described as “a 21st century pogrom” following an alleged knife attack by a Sudanese man in Belfast on Monday night.

Hadi Alodid, 30, appeared in court on Wednesday charged with attempted murder over the incident, in which victim Stephen Ogilvie lost an eye.

In a statement issued on Wednesday night, Ogilvie’s family said: “We have been left feeling disgusted by the scenes that unfolded yesterday across Northern Ireland in the wake of what happened.

“We want to make it absolutely clear that to do this in response is not supported by our family, and peaceful protest is only ever the way forward.”

They added: “We have many migrants who make a deeply valuable contribution to our country, including from within our healthcare system and hospitality sector, and we depend on them to make our country work,” they said.

“We do not want this terrible tragedy to be used to divide people or fuel hostility – do not do this in the name of our loved one as we do not share the same values.”

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage appeared to dismiss the family’s initial appeal for calm when asked about it on Tuesday.

Asked by Sky News’s Beth Rigby on Tuesday for his response to the family’s words, Farage said: “Whatever the family said in Belfast, the fact is things kicked off in Belfast in a very, very big way.

“I’m very open about the fact that there were some very bad actors involved in this stuff, but not the vast majority.

“The vast majority are fearful, the vast majority want action. They actually want something done to make their streets safer, and nothing is being proposed. It wasn’t by the last government, it’s not by this government.

“It seems that not a week goes by now where we don’t read of some horrific mass sexual assault or something like that that has been committed by someone who just should not be in Britain.

“The fear is that this stuff gets worse. Unless you give people hope, this stuff will get worse.”

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