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BELFAST: Northern Ireland police appealed for calm on Tuesday after a stabbing in Belfast by a Sudanese suspect, captured in a graphic video, prompted calls for anti-immigration protests from UK far-right figures.
The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) vowed to increase its presence on the UK province’s streets after footage of Monday night’s incident shared online drew shock, condemnation and demands for immediate demonstrations on Tuesday evening.
Tensions have already been heightened in Britain following violent skirmishes last week in Southampton, southern England, over the police handling of the murder of a young white student stabbed to death by a British Sikh man.
The video from Belfast shows a man straddling another man lying in a street and slashing him several times in the head and neck with a knife, in what far-right figures claimed was an attempted beheading. Several people can then be seen intervening and tackling the perpetrator, as police arrive.
