Brussels Influencer Feud Erupts: Arson Attack Shakes Molenbeek

The fire broke out in the morning on Friday. A "man set fire to an inhabited house on Edmond Gandries Avenue in Molenbeek-Saint-Jean," reports La Dernière Heure. "Around 6 a.m., the police were called for a fire. On site, it turned out to be a Molotov cocktail. The fire had already been brought under control. There were no injuries. The suspect fled and is actively being searched for. The public prosecutor’s office was informed and opened an investigation for arson. A fire expert went to the scene," details the Brussels public prosecutor’s office.

The target of the suspect is Ikram’s home, where she lives with her four children. According to the home’s video surveillance, the suspect appears to be filming himself lighting an incendiary device several times in front of Ikram’s door. "It was prayer time, I was about to get up and I heard a big ’boom’. Halfway up the stairs, I saw there was a fire and we couldn’t go that way, Ikram tells us. I panicked, I pulled my children to my room and we took refuge near the window. We screamed, screamed!" she remembers.

Immediately afterwards, her neighbors quickly intervened to evacuate them from the house with a ladder. Ikram seems to know the motive for this arson. "He stayed 20 minutes in front of my house trying to set it on fire [...]. I’ve had problems with influencers for six years. It all quickly escalated when my brother got involved, but I’ve stayed out of it all. But I’ve always been the target of threats. Last year they tagged my facade, then they shot at it," Ikram says. She adds that she filed a complaint, and that it is now in the hands of the justice system.

Following the fire, the police opened an investigation to determine if the fire is the latest episode of violence in a conflict that began six years ago between Brussels influencers. The creation in 2019 by Ikram of a Facebook group aimed at denouncing "influencers and their scams" is the trigger. Several local influencers were quick to express their anger. This was followed by a real digital war on social media: live insults and threats, incitement to hatred against Ikram. Photos of her family were circulated. A nursing student stole and transmitted Ikram’s medical file to one of the influencers, which ended up on social media.

In the summer of 2023, the case took another turn, after Mourad, Ikram’s brother, called his followers to set fire to the home of the influencer who had disclosed his medical information. Two hooded individuals, on the night of August 25 to 26, 2023, threw an incendiary device at the door of his mother’s house in Ninove. The victim and her two children were saved by vigilant neighbors. The justice system is examining the case. This influencer and the nurse, as well as Ikram’s ex-partner, were convicted of harassment and threats in February 2024. Ikram and two other influencers, on the other hand, were acquitted. As for Mourad, he was sentenced to six years in prison in a separate trial. According to the court, he commissioned the arson. Both procedures are under appeal, we are told.