In an hour following a horrific stabbing attack in Belfast on Monday evening, Tommy Robinson, British far-right activist had shared a video of the incident on X, a post which has racked up six million views. In a few hours Elon Muskthe owner of the platform, intervened, approving a message calling for “consequences» for politicians.
Tuesday morning, hyped up by X, the video was everywhere and the groups on Facebook were organize protests in Northern Ireland and the United Kingdom. Far-right figures in the US and UK continued to add fuel to the fire online, portraying the incident as part of a wider anti-white agenda perpetrated in Western countries.
Violent protests broke out in Belfast on Tuesday evening, with masked rioters burning vehicles, kicking in the doors of houses they believed to house immigrants and set these houses on fire.
Politicians were quick to criticize Musk and Robinsonwho did not respond to requests for comment, for their role in inciting the violence, but what no one seemed to notice was the role played by white supremacist movement Active Club and his Youth Club Wing not only stoking tensions, but also advising and orchestrating the masked youths who spearheaded much of the violence.
A WIRED investigation documented how this global network activated within hours of the incident, showing how groups across the United States helped promote violence in Belfast. The movement is already analyzing the progress of the protests and using them as a model to follow, emphasizing the “organization and professionalism” of those involved.
“Active Clubs, the fastest growing neo-Nazi movement in the world, never misses an opportunity to exploit a tragedy for their own hateful purposes,” said Wendy Via, co-founder and president of the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism. “The protests in Belfast had barely begun when the voices of Active Club leaders functioned as a support network for the racist riots and encouraged their replication in other countries. »
At around 10.30pm local time on Monday evening, emergency services were called to the Kinnaird Avenue area of north Belfast. Shortly afterwards, a video was shared online by an unknown person showing a horrific stabbing attack on Stephen Ogilvie, who was hospitalized with serious injuries to his face and neck, including the loss of his left eye.
Hadi Alodid, a 30-year-old Sudanese man, was arrested at the scene and has since been arrested. accused of attempted murder.
After Robinson posted the images, they quickly gained traction on major social media platforms. The US-based X account End Wokeness, which specializes in sharing culture war and ragebait content, shared a screenshot excerpt from the video, with the caption: “An African migrant just tried to behead a white man in north Belfast, Ireland. The video is too graphic to publish.” The post has been viewed more than 16 million times.
Musk posted dozens of times about the incident in the following days, drawing the ire of British politicians, but away from mainstream platforms like X and Facebook, other groups also mobilized and were much more explicit about why they believed a strong response was necessary.
Just hours after the attack, on Tuesday morning at 2:19 a.m., a Telegram channel called “White Youth In Revolt,” named after an expression used everywhere The Active Club and Youth Club movements shared a screenshot of the video, writing: “A black invader just attempted to behead a white man in the UK. »
The account generally shares content from clubs active in the United States, but given the growing network footprint outside the United States, it has many followers in Europe.
“To the men of the United Kingdom: you must toughen up and work together,” the message continues. “Scare them that they’re trapped on an island with you. Rekindle your flame.”
Echoing infamous 14 wordsthe group wrote: “Reclaim your homeland and secure a future for white youth. These acts of third world violence cannot continue to take place in our streets.”
Demonstrations were organized on Tuesday morning on other platforms, especially Facebookand on Tuesday morning at 11:37 a.m., the Telegram channel of the Northern Irish branch of the active club movement, known as the Ulster Youth Club, advised protesters to protect their identities. “It is also advisable to protect your identity while attending in case left-wing agitators such as antifa attempt a dox campaign, as has happened in the past.”
The group warned against criminal activity, but wrote that “anger is the only acceptable response to a Somali who nearly beheaded a fellow European in our capital.” (Police initially identified the suspect as being from Somalia before later confirming he was from Sudan).
The message ended with the words “FOLK FAMILY FUTURE,” a well-known rallying cry. among extremist groups around the world
At 12:27 p.m., Ulster Youth Club shared the post White Youth in Revolt and, two minutes later, a video first posted by Active Club Finland. This video shows how members should dress when attending protests, including the use of masks, gloves, and nondescript clothing. It was followed by another message, writing: “Again, DON’T BREAK THE LAW! »
At 12:47 p.m., the group shared even more explicit advice: “No smartphones. No smart watches. No jewelry. Hats. Gloves. Hide tattoos. ‘Citizen journalists’ explicitly. [sic] not welcome. Shortly after 2 p.m., the group shared a post promoting dozens of protests across the UK and Northern Ireland. The message includes the line: “White man, fight back!” »
At the same time, Will2Rise, a hate group founded by Robert Rundowho also founded the Active Club network, published a newsletter describing the incident in explicitly racist terms with the headline: “White man saved by other white men from attempted beheading in Belfast”. The message continues: “We must be relentless in our efforts for remigration on a cultural level, while striving as hard as possible to be bigger, stronger; more capable of self-defense, more assertive in preventing migrant violence and more concerned about their tribe. »
Remigration is the far-right racist European plan to expel minorities and immigrants from Western countries. adopted by the Trump administration.
Hours later, hordes of masked young men, dressed in exactly the clothes suggested by the Ulster Youth Club, were filmed marching through Belfast. Videos show the groups breaking down building doors and stopping vehicles.
Will2Rise shared a photo of masked young men in Belfast, writing: “About 250 armed young white men patrolled the streets, banned phones and filming, and stopped firefighters from putting out the fires they started. This white boy summer is going to be hot.”
“The transgressions of our enemies are heaped upon them like a pyre that will inevitably be lit,” the Ulster Youth Club group wrote on its Telegram channel at 11:14 p.m. that evening.
On Thursday morning, while buildings and vehicles were still burning in Belfast, members of the Active Club movement were already carrying out a post-mortem of the previous night’s activities, concluding that overall it had been a huge success.
In another Substack article, the author of Will2Rise compares the tactics and methods used during the Belfast riots with the Southampton protests the previous week in response to the death of Henry Nowak.
“When we compare the Southampton protests to the Northern Ireland protests, there is a clear distinction in terms of organization and professionalism,” the author writes. “Irish protesters did not just stand united in the face of [police] double; they stuck together throughout the evening’s movement and ensured their ranks were close. Additionally, they monitored their own ranks and conducted telephone searches, both on themselves and those of opportunistic videographers, in order to maintain OPSEC by deleting any captured images that would allow for later identification.
