Violence against Belfast stabbing victim has made us all wonder - how could this happen? Veteran journalist Jilly Beattie tells how a city has been left devastated by a brutal attack.
There is a stench hanging over Belfast today. A smell of smoke and despair, a reek of violence and adrenaline, and what lies beneath it is nervous anticipation of what will come next.
Northern Ireland is used to violence, a community still evolving from the worst of days. Over decades of The Troubles we stood witness to unconscionable brutality that we would all rather forget but can't, and while peace lives now, it remains fragile and always susceptible to fracture from any direction.
On Monday night a type of fracture splintered through the country when a video of an attack on 44-year-old Stephen Ogilvie emerged on social media. Lying prone and helpless in a street in North Belfast, Stephen could be seen covered in blood, his legs flailing but otherwise unable to move, unable to help himself. A figure could be seen kneeling above him. With the intervention of neighbours, Stephen's life was saved but he has been left with serious and life-changing injuries.
Today he remains in hospital in an induced coma. He has lost his left eye and his right eye is seriously damaged and may not be salvageable. He has serious injuries to his throat and suffered deep slash injuries to his back and neck.
Perhaps worse than all of that, Stephen, who lives with hearing loss, suffered fear so severe that it could take him a lifetime to recover and rebuild. And fear around this situation is infectious, travelling from one person to another, and through communities, at each turn trying to make sense of what is going on.
What followed was a night of violence and rioting not seen in Northern Ireland for years. This time though, it was not based on orange or green but on skin colour, faith and difference. As the country waits to see if tempers will erupt again fear lies everywhere.
Fear of what happened to Stephen, of the violent response, of no response. Fear that we could have predicted the rioting and violence that followed. Fear of our own thoughts, of fake news and real news and what all of it reveals.
Stephen's family and friends in Northern Ireland will support him, communities across the UK will too. Given the violence that erupted on Tuesday night, recovery will not just be a journey for Stephen Ogilvie but for the whole country.
What happened to Stephen has left us bruised, wondering just how this could happen. His family are reeling, devastated and desperate that no one else comes to any more harm. They saw how families perceived to be 'not of this place' were hounded from their homes, houses set alight, wheelie bins blasted into living rooms through front windows.
They saw news reports of sustained attacks on people who have made Northern Ireland their home, the properties they lived in, were caught on camera and displayed around the globe. They heard how self-styled patriot volunteers claimed to be acting in defiance, in unity and protection of their communities. They saw images of women and children running in the streets, scrambling to safety, into the arms of fire fighters and police officers, into the backs of PSNI Land Rovers.
Stephen's family asked for it to stop. And now they have asked for privacy, time and space to try to heal and urged the public who wish to protect to ensure any protests are peaceful.
The attack on Stephen Ogilvie was barbaric. The attacks on members of the public and their homes were barbaric. Police chief Jon Boutcher and Judge Steven Keown have issued warnings about toxic online posts inciting faceless people into violence. Boutcher says his officers will charge them. Keown says the courts will jail them.
Will it be enough to bring an end to the patriot fever? With additional police called in, shops and schools closed and public transport cancelled, all signs would indicate, probably not.
