What we know about how Northern Ireland's riots were organised

A significant story is unfolding on the international scene. What we know about how Northern Ireland's riots were organised11 minutes ago Share Save Add as preferred on GoogleRebekah LoganBBC News NIGetty ImagesCrowds clashed with police at Glengormley on Wednesday nightThere has been three nights of violence on the streets of Northern Ireland. Homes and vehicles set on fire; water cannon deployed; more than a dozen police officers injured; and an atmosphere of fear has descended with reports of people being threatened for having a "different skin colour" and families being put out of their homes "because they're black". It all came after a knife attack in Belfast on Monday night, for which a Sudanese man has been charged with attempted murder.

Within hours, social media was ablaze with footage of the attack quickly followed by calls for protest. Many of those protests passed peacefully but, elsewhere, hundreds of masked people took to the streets and violence followed. But how did so many people mobilise so quickly and what role did social media play in the organisation?

The Details

News NI takes a look at how a violent attack led to days of disorder. Social ReutersThe scenes on the streets of Northern Ireland this week are not new - in 2025, protests in Ballymena and other towns descended into violence the police branded as "racist thuggery" after an alleged sexual assault. On this occasion, social media played a central role from the very beginning.

The first time many people heard about the initial attack was from a video filmed by a woman on her way home from work. Social media posts, many of which focused on the alleged attacker's ethnicity, soon took on a life of their own, with the graphic scenes being shared widely across Facebook, X and TikTok. On Tuesday, police confirmed the man they had arrested was a 30-year-old originally from Sudan - from there, speculation moved to how he came to be living in Belfast.

Less than 24 hours after the initial incident, hundreds of people came out for protests across Northern Ireland calling for a strict clampdown on immigration. And there were also others, many masked, who took to the streets and caused serious violence. Some of the posts circulating on social media gave times and places for protests and carried anti-immigration messaging.

What Experts Say

Others included a list of roads which were due to be blocked or a direction for businesses to close at a certain time. One of the more sinister posts was a long list of home addresses that had been collated and shared on social media. Police said people who live in the named properties had been left "extremely distressed" by the posts, adding that it was "putting lives at risk and has to stop".

PA MediaACC Ryan Henderson said police do not believe the disorder was organist by loyalist paramilitariesBut who is behind the organisation of these incidents? It's a difficult question to answer. Many of those involved in the protests were masked and social media accounts are largely anonymous.

The development has drawn wide international attention, with diplomatic circles watching closely.