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Approximately 100 protesters demonstrated in front of Pearse Street Garda Station in Dublin on New Years Day following the shooting murder of George Nkencho.
The crowd chanted “Black Lives Matter” and “George Nkencho is not a bully” on the steps of the station after a protest at the Spire on O’Connell Street.
It is the second such protest since Mr Nkencho (27) was shot and killed by members of the Blanchardstown Garda Armed Support Unit (ASU) on Wednesday in West Dublin. He reportedly brandished a knife and threatened the officers. A protest was also held on New Years Day in front of Waterford Garda Station.
Video footage taken by a passerby, showing a man in a blue sweater surrounded by ASU members, captured the sound of an initial shot followed by four more shots.
The man appears to stumble before falling to the ground on the fifth shot. At least three bullets hit Mr. Nkencho, who received first aid at the scene and was taken by ambulance to James Connolly Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Protester Richard Oyewole said Africans in Ireland wanted to know why Gardaí shot him dead when he did not have a weapon. “People want justice,” he said.
Under the Level 5 coronavirus restrictions, public gatherings are prohibited, but the Gardaí kept a low-key distance.
Earlier in the Spire, protesters lit candles in honor of Mr. Nkencho, whose family said he had mental health problems.
One protester told the crowd that blacks had to defend themselves.
“They don’t care about us. They don’t care about blacks. We are going to have to. . . protect us, ”he said. “George didn’t have to die the way he did. . . [HE]he was a black man who lived in this country. They did not treat him as if he were an Irish citizen. They shot him five times in front of his house ”.
The murder is being investigated by the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission.
A fundraiser set up to pay for Nkencho’s funeral has raised the 15,000 euros needed to bury him.
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