A gruesome attack in Northern Ireland Monday night has now garnered global attention as protesters demand accountability.
The ‘Attempted Beheading’
A Sudanese migrant was arrested after what is being described as an “attempted beheading” in Belfast. Video of the incident shows the victim, now identified as 41-year-old Stephen Ogilvie, pinned on the ground while being repeatedly stabbed.
“Get off him you fucking rat,” one woman could be heard shouting as the assailant flashed his weapon. A man yelled, “He’s trying to cut his head off. He’s slicing his head off.” In acts of bravery that no doubt saved the victim’s life, stunned locals rushed towards the attack. One bystander clubbed the attacker with a hurling stick as others tried to free his grip on the victim.
During a court hearing Wednesday, it was revealed he lost his left eye and suffered severe damage to the right eye, deep cuts to his face, and lacerations to his back. While not confirmed by authorities, locals said Ogilvie has special needs and is hard of hearing.
Neighbors said the suspect, 30-year-old Sudanese national Hadi Alodid, had moved into the neighborhood recently. He has been charged with attempted murder and appeared in court Wednesday with an Arabic interpreter. He didn’t speak when asked questions by the judge and did not have any legal representation. GB News reported that after Alodid was arrested, he allegedly threatened medical staff by telling them “I will kill you.”
Alodid entered Northern Ireland through what is being described as an asylum loophole. Per The Telegraph, the so-called “Irish route” involves migrants flying to Dublin from Europe, sometimes on false papers, before traveling unchecked to Northern Ireland by land to only then claim they fear for their life and need asylum.
The Reaction
The horrifying incident triggered a wave of protests across Belfast. Houses, buses, cars, and a supermarket were set on fire Tuesday night. At one point, a group of masked protesters went to local migrant housing units and kicked down doors.
U.K. politicians, including Prime Minister Keir Starmer, have called for calm, saying any act of violence is “totally unjustified.” The media, meanwhile, has tried to blame the outrage on the “far Right” and “social media.”
A Tuesday Guardian headline read, “Politicians try to calm tensions inflamed by social media after stabbing in Belfast.” The BBC tried to downplay the violence altogether with “Disorder breaks out in Belfast after man charged over knife attack.”
And in an astonishing moment on Sky News, anchor Cathy Newman rushed to broadcast from her desk in the newsroom to blame the so-called “far Right” for the protests and accused them of “whipping this up for their own ends.”
Back stateside, the story has gotten very little play in corporate media. The New York Times has a few stories on the “night of violence” and “disorder” in Northern Ireland, but there was no coverage featured on the homepage of its website Tuesday night. Same for The Washington Post.
The Analysis
On Wednesday’s show, Megyn was joined by GB News host Will Kingston and Greg Swenson, chairman of Republicans Overseas UK, to discuss the horrific attack and the response to it.
You can check out Megyn’s full interview with Kingston and Swenson by tuning in to episode 1,336 on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you like to listen. And don’t forget that you can catch The Megyn Kelly Show live on SiriusXM’s The Megyn Kelly Channel (channel 111) weekdays from 12pm to 2pm ET.