Glengormley (United Kingdom) (AFP) - Police used water cannon late Wednesday to disperse small crowds who had gathered for a second night in Northern Ireland as UK authorities blamed far-right activists for stoking anger on social media following a brutal Belfast stabbing.

Police boosted their presence on the city streets, but while the main flashpoints of 24 hours earlier appeared quiet, dozens of men confronted police in one area, throwing missiles like rocks and bottles and setting fires in the middle of the road.

“Crowds have gathered & missiles are being thrown at officers who have now deployed the water cannon in an attempt to maintain public order,” the police said in a statement.

The centre of Belfast was largely deserted by late afternoon, with restaurants and businesses shuttered, schools closed and public transport shut down amid fears of a repeat of Tuesday night’s riots.

Earlier, a Sudanese man appeared in court charged with the knife attack that triggered the overnight unrest, which also spread to the Scottish city Glasgow.

In Belfast on Tuesday, masked rioters torched vehicles and buildings and forced families to flee their homes.

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer condemned the scenes as “shocking and completely unacceptable”.

The family of Stephen Ogilvie, the victim of Monday night’s horrific stabbing appealed for calm and warned against using the “terrible tragedy” to “divide people or fuel hostility”.

The family said Ogilvie was in a stable condition despite losing an eye, adding: “We have been left feeling disgusted by the scenes that unfolded yesterday across Northern Ireland in the wake of what happened”.

Tensions were already high across the UK. There were skirmishes in southern England last week over the police handling of the murder of a white student by a British Sikh man.

Anselme Shima, originally from the Democratic Republic of Congo, and who has lived in Northern Ireland since 2013, called the situation “terrifying”.

Another local resident, 28, who asked not to give her name said she had helped evacuate her neighbours. “It’s just sad, this is a really close knit community,” she told AFP.

- Court appearance -

At Belfast Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday morning, Hadi Alodid, a 30-year-old refugee from Sudan, appeared briefly to face attempted murder and other charges following Monday’s stabbing.

He was remanded in custody and the case was adjourned to July 8.

Footage of the stabbing – which showed several people intervening, one wielding a hurling stick – sparked widespread condemnation alongside anger.

Numerous accounts linked to so-called “patriots” shared the footage, urging people to “protest against mass immigration into their communities”.

In Glasgow, there were also three arrests as two police officers and three members of the public were injured, Scotland’s police force said. Worshippers at Glasgow’s largest mosque were reportedly locked in as tensions flared.

As calls for more protests circulated Wednesday, Northern Ireland police chief Jon Boutcher said his force was looking to add a further 200 officers to the streets.

Officers had to take a family that included a two-month-old baby to safety during Tuesday’s violence, which he branded “a huge act of self-harm by mindless idiots”.

Twenty-seven people were made homeless “because people went door-to-door to try and target foreign nationals”, a UK minister Ruth Anderson said.

- ‘Bad faith actors’ -

Anna Turley, the chairwoman of Britain’s ruling Labour party, said online platforms were “playing a role in driving” the unrest. She suggested X owner Elon Musk was one of the “bad faith actors” inflaming tensions.

Musk had retweeted a post by anti-immigration activist Stephen Yaxley-Lennon – also known as Tommy Robinson – adding: “Only by protesting REPEATEDLY and LOUDLY will there be any change!!”

Alodid is a Sudanese refugee with a residence permit valid until 2028, according to the UK interior ministry.

Immigration is a hot-button issue in Britain, and has helped fuel the rise of the hard-right Reform UK party, led by Nigel Farage.

The country has seen frequent anti-immigration protests in recent years, some turning violent.