Yet another country has fallen victim to right-wing rage harvesting. This time, it is Ireland.
On June 8, 2026, in Belfast, Stephen Ogilvie, a 44-year-old disabled man who is white, was stabbed by Hadi Alodid, a 30-year-old Sudanese refugee. The two men lived in the same residential building. Mr. Ogilvie received serious injuries to his eyes, face, and back. He remains in hospital.
The attack was of course posted on social media, and rage took hold, exacerbated by the social feeds of familiar rage baiters like Elon Musk and Tommy Robinson. By the next night, mobs of rioters, many wearing masks, had taken to the streets, targeting so-called foreigners.
The riots were truly frightening, with lists of addresses presumed to be where foreigners lived circulating on social media. Innocent, unarmed immigrants were attacked. Their homes lit on fire. A nurse who happened to be a person of colour was chased into the hospital she worked at.
Most Belfast residents were disgusted by the violence and by the politicians and other rage-baiters who were profiting from the social media traffic, although that hasn’t stopped the instigators from continuing their racist crusade.
The Ireland riots built upon an earlier tragic incident that had taken place in Southhampton, England on December 3, 2025, when 18-year old student Henry Nowak was stabbed to death by 23-year-old Vickrum Singh Digwa.
When the police arrived on scene, Digwa falsely accused Nowak of assault and racism, denying that he had stabbed Nowak. The police chose to believe Digwa’s lie and ignored Nowak when he told the police he had been stabbed and could not breathe. Instead, the police handcuffed and arrested the victim.
Henry Nowak tragically died at the site from his wounds. Digwa has since been convicted of murder and on June 1st was sentenced to life in prison.
The day after Digwa was sentenced, Nigel Farage, leader of Britain’s hard-right Reform UK party, called on the British public for a response of “pure cold rage”, demanding an end to “anti-white prejudice” Not surprisingly, his call to action coincided with a violent protest against the Southhampton police, which resulted in injuries to 11 officers and fear throughout the community.
Farage has been one of the worst offenders in using community tragedies to stoke what are frankly racist, violent reactions among his potential supporters. But he is certainly not alone.
In Britain, far-right activists such as Tommy Robinson use social media to incite violence. Among other immoral and indeed criminal activities, Robinson was accused of alleging that the perpetrator of the mass stabbing of children in Southport was Muslim – he was actually Christian – which was a major factor leading to rampages there after that tragic incident.
The Southport riots were just one example of how far-right influencers abuse a tragedy to foment racist politics and protests. All over the world, extreme right-wing parties are engaging in shameless rage harvesting.
Far-right parties have gained significant political ground in countries such as France, Germany, and sadly Israel which Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing, warmongering coalition has controlled since 2022.
In Switzerland, a proposal from the right-wing Swiss People’s Party, which promotes anti-immigrant policies, asked voters to cap the country’s population at one million. Thankfully, that proposal was rejected 55% against to 45% for.
The leading example of where hard-right politics has infiltrated Western governments is of course the United States, where among other egregious actions, Donald Trump’s Republicans continue to indiscriminately use government-controlled United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to imprison alleged illegal immigrants in what are effectively concentration camps before deporting them without legal process. Many are dying from overt violence or neglect.
In the meantime, the Trump family and various sycophants feloniously earn billions by selling access and favours, with no criminal prosecution in sight.
The far-right is on the march and too often, social media is their weapon of choice. Cynical owners such as Elon Musk spread lies to attract followers and earn more, no matter what damage results to targeted communities. The use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is about to make this situation much worse.
We are living in dangerous times. Very dangerous times.
Daily atmospheric CO2 [Courtesy of CO2.Earth]
Latest daily total (June 20, 2026): 430.78ppm
One year ago (June 19, 2025): 429.33ppm
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