LONDON — The condemnation over anti-immigrant riots in Northern Ireland was being matched by another growing outrage in Britain on Thursday: that the world’s richest man was inciting the violence.Subscribe to read this story ad-free Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.A second night of unrest on the streets of Belfast saw masked men once again torch houses and vehicles in a hunt for anyone they believed to be an immigrant.A government minister labeled the violence “racist thuggery.”The rioters say they are motivated by the stabbing of a local man, Stephen Ogilvie, who lost one eye in the knife attack that also caused deep wounds to his face and neck.
Hadi Alodid, a 30-year-old Sudanese man, has been arrested and charged with attempted murder, but did not enter a plea when he appeared in court Wednesday.Graphic video of the attack spread quickly and widely on social media.Ogilvie’s family have implored people not to use the attack for political gain or violence, while stressing the “valuable contribution” that migrants make to society.Fires burn around police vehicles as protesters stand off with police in Glengormley, north of Belfast on Wednesday.Paul Faith / AFP via Getty ImagesVehicles set on fire by protesters burn on Lendrick Street in Belfast, Northern Ireland, on Tuesday.
PA / via APMany politicians, public figures and general citizens have repudiated the riots, but perhaps just as vehement has been the anger against Elon Musk for supporting them.Musk, the SpaceX and Tesla CEO, has long used his social media platform X to promote far-right figures globally and their anti-immigration views.On Wednesday, he hit back at those accusing him of spreading hatred and fueling the Northern Ireland rioters.“Murderous migrants beheading innocent people in their home town is what’s making people angry, not ‘social media’!” he wrote.Musk also reposted other messages claiming that British Prime Minister Keir Starmer �...