U.K. authorities pleaded for calm following a knife attack in Belfast, Northern Ireland,?that led to the arrest of a Sudanese national and prompted protest calls from the far right.
Video circulating online of the late Monday attack appeared to show the assailant stabbing at his victim¡¯s head before being beaten away by passers-by, one of them using a hurling stick. With the victim hospitalized in serious condition, Prime Minister Keir Starmer condemned the incident as ¡°horrific¡± and ¡°abhorrent.¡±
The incident is the latest in a string of racially-charged attacks providing fodder to the hard and far right in the U.K.. Anti-immigration activist Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, known more often as Tommy Robinson, posted video of the Belfast incident online, referring to the attacker as an ¡°invader.¡± He also amplified calls for Tuesday-night protests across the U.K.
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