My home town of Belfast is again in flames, but this time it’s different

June 11, 2026 — 9:30am

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On Saturday morning, I will return home to Belfast to a depressingly familiar sight many of us thought had largely disappeared.

Violence in Belfast is usually connected to long-held political tension between Protestant and Catholic communities. During the summer months, this can still reignite into what local police call “recreational rioting”. But this time, it’s different.

On Monday evening, a grainy video went viral. A 30-year-old Sudanese man had brutally attacked a man in North Belfast with a knife. Locals stopped the attack before police arrived, but the victim was seriously wounded.

Locals have every right to feel anger that this crime happened on their doorstep and to demand justice. But the justice these gangs of masked men seek in Belfast is not to be found in the courtroom; it is demanded on the streets.

The disorder........

© WA Today