Man Believed to Be Somali Arrested for Attempted Murder in Belfast Knife Attack

The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) said that a man believed to be Somali has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after a knife attack in Belfast left another man seriously injured in what authorities have described as a “critical incident.”

In the footage, shared widely online, a black male is seen repeatedly stabbing a blood-drenched white man, cutting into his head and eyes and shouting in what appears to be a foreign language as horrified members of the public shout for help while screaming that the attacker is trying to “cut his head off.”

Bystanders then intervene, trying to prise the attacker off, before police arrive.

In a June 9 statement, PSNI said that a man in his 30s, “believed to be Somalian,” has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder following a serious assault involving a knife in the Kinnaird Avenue area of north Belfast on Monday night, June 8, shortly after 10:30 p.m.

He remains in police custody.

The injured man, aged in his 40s, is in hospital, where his condition is described as serious. The attack has left the man with “significant injuries to his face, neck and back,” police said.

“This is a deeply concerning assault, and I have declared this a critical incident. We have commenced an investigation to establish a motive,” Assistant Chief Constable Ryan Henderson said.

In a June 9 post on X, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said that “the horrific attack in Belfast last night is sickening.”

“I have absolutely no tolerance for abhorrent scenes of violence like this on our streets,” he added.

Conservative politicians had demanded that the police release more information about the attacker.

“What happened in Belfast last night is horrific,” Nigel Farage, leader of Reform UK, wrote in a June 9 post on X.

“The authorities must reveal the identity and status of the attacker immediately. The public are entitled to the truth.”

“We’ve woken up to truly barbaric footage on a street in Belfast,” Reform’s shadow chancellor Robert Jenrick said on X. “Of a kind you’d think you’d never see in this country.”

Rupert Lowe, leader of rival party Restore Britain, had demanded that police disclose the “nationality, immigration status and religion” of the attacker.

“We have all seen the sickening video from Belfast,” Lowe wrote in a letter addressed to Starmer posted to X on June 9.

Paul McCusker, an independent councillor in the area, told the BBC on Tuesday that some residents witnessed the incident.

“One lady said she had to go to hospital herself because of the stress of witnessing such a brutal attack,” he said.

McCusker praised the “brave residents” who he said intervened to stop the attack.

“I’ve never seen an attack like this happen on the streets of north Belfast,” he added.

Sorcha Eastwood, minister of parliament from the center-left Alliance Party of Northern Ireland, said in a June 9 post on X that she could not “get that footage out of my mind.”

“The community is in shock, and my thoughts are with those first responders on the scene who courageously pulled the attacker from the victim and to the police who ran straight into it,” she said.

“Let us all offer up our prayers at this time for the victim and their family and those who witnessed this sickening act.”