A White Supremacist Youth Group Helped Orchestrate the Belfast Riots
Key takeaways
- By Tuesday morning, supercharged by X, the video was everywhere, and groups on Facebook were organizing protests across Northern Ireland and the UK.
- By Tuesday evening, violent protests had broken out in Belfast, with masked rioters setting fire to vehicles, kicking in the doors of homes they believed housed immigrants, and setting those homes on fire.
- A WIRED investigation has documented how this global network activated within hours of the incident, showing how groups across the US helped promote the violence in Belfast.
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Photograph: Charles Mc Quillan/Getty Images Comment Loader Save Story Save this story Comment Loader Save Story Save this story Within an hour after a horrific knife attack took place in Belfast on Monday night, far-right UK activist Tommy Robinson had shared a video of the incident on X, a post that racked up six million views. Within hours Elon Musk, the owner of the platform, weighed in, agreeing with a post calling for “consequences” for politicians.
By Tuesday morning, supercharged by X, the video was everywhere, and groups on Facebook were organizing protests across Northern Ireland and the UK. Far-right figures in the US and UK continued to pour fuel on the fire online, framing the incident as part of a broader anti-white agenda being perpetrated in Western countries.
By Tuesday evening, violent protests had broken out in Belfast, with masked rioters setting fire to vehicles, kicking in the doors of homes they believed housed immigrants, and setting those homes on fire.