Police warned for months about addresses targeted in Belfast riots

A monitoring group repeatedly warned the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) over the past eight months that anti-immigration activists were circulating the addresses of properties that were targeted in this week’s Belfast riots.The Accountability Project Northern Ireland, a volunteer group formed last summer to monitor anti-immigration activity online, sent dozens of reports to police between November 2025 and June 2026.They warned of a growing focus on houses of multiple occupation (HMOs) by anti-immigration and far-right actors, something they first observed in August 2025.The Guardian understands a so-called hitlist of addresses has been circulating among far-right groups since August 2025 and was sent to the PSNI in January 2026. They were among the locations targeted during this week’s anti-immigration disorder. The Guardian has seen a screenshot of an email sent to a PSNI inspector in January attaching one such list. Campaigners say a similar list is now being circulated on social media and messaging apps amid this week’s rioting. The PSNI warned earlier this week against the sharing of home addresses, adding it has left families and residents “extremely distressed”.The reports sent to the PSNI focused heavily on activity in the Newtownabbey area north of Belfast, which has been at the centre of some of the most serious disorder in recent days. Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, John Blair, an Alliance assembly member for South Antrim, said the area had seen “a mob on a rampage of violence and destruction”.The reports sent to police also cited a Facebook post stating that HMOs in the Glengormley area “will now be treated as fair game and dealt with accordingly”. It went on to state: “Anyone caught funding or helping these animals in being housed will be condemned as equally guilty.” Glengormley was among the areas affected by anti-immigration disorder over the past few days, with masked men setting homes on fire.A burnt-out building in Glengormley after being targeted during one of the riots. Photograph: Henry Nicholls/AFP/Getty ImagesAnti-racist campaigners have spoken of their anger and frustration that months of warnings were not acted on in the run-up to the days of the rioting that has seen houses and cars burned, and racist checkpoints in main roads.Community groups described helping vulnerable families leave areas, while volunteers organised support for minority ethnic students travelling to GCSE exams. Campaigners also reported that some workers from minority ethnic backgrounds were leaving work early amid concerns about travelling home safely.The dozens of reports concerning targeting of HMOs were part of approximately 50 submissions to PSNI from August 2025 until now.“I have seen the so-called hitlist currently circulating in Belfast, and I recognised it immediately as the same list sent to the PSNI in January,” a spokesperson for the group said. “The fact that concerns about escalation were raised months ago, yet some of the streets named have now been attacked, raises serious questions about whether those warnings were acted upon.”The reports sent to the police by the monitoring group identified anti-immigration and far-right figures known to the network and the police in these posts and demonstrations outside rental properties.A police officer inspecting burnt-out cars and buildings in the Templemore area of Belfast. Photograph: Lab Mo/SOPA Images/ShutterstockThe monitoring group repeatedly warned that language used in relation to HMOs by anti-immigration and far-right actors was becoming increasingly hostile and racially charged, with posts portraying asylum seekers and refugees as a threat and encouraging opposition to properties believed to house them.The PSNI were told those in HMOs were being described as “fighting-age males” who could be “rapists” and “murderers”, as well as calls for people “start making a stand” and “hope these protests get bigger”.In April, the group warned police that HMOs were being portrayed online as housing “foreigners” and people “not from here”, and that such narratives could contribute to the targeting of properties and individuals.Further reports documented weekly anti-HMO protests, increasing references to a “busy summer”, as well as efforts to target estate agents and property events.In an email sent to the same PSNI inspector on 5 June, the group emphasised escalating concerns and said some members of minority ethnic communities were stockpiling food as they were uncertain about what might happen in the coming months. The PSNI did not respond.Three days later, Hadi Alodid stabbed Stephen Ogilvie in a vicious attack. The family of the stabbing victim have condemned the violent protests.A spokesperson for No Deportations said the strategy used in the riots in Belfast are the same used in Northern Ireland since the 1970s. “They were setting up roadblock and ID-checking cars around hospitals,” they said. “These roadblocks are designed to stretch police resources, and then they go and they commit pogroms in specific areas.”The PSNI has been contacted for comment.