The Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) has said it is “extremely concerned” about video footage showing a garda striking a protester with a baton.
The incident occurred during a visit of former US president Joe Biden to Trinity College Dublin, where his son Hunter received a gold medal from the College Historical Society, known as The Hist.
The visit by the 83-year-old former president was not advertised in advance, but a large crowd had gathered by the time he emerged from the event in the 1937 Reading Room.
Pro-Palestine protesters tried to surround Biden’s car and began to shout “blood on your hands” and “shame on you”. One protester tried to throw what looked like milk at him.
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The ICCL referenced a video on The Journal website that shows a garda striking a protester. The ICCL said the baton strike occurred as the man was already restrained by a second garda.
The ICCL said gardaí had a statutory obligation to preserve peace and public order, but these obligations “must be balanced with their obligation to facilitate the right to peaceful protest.
“Any use of force by gardaí must be necessary and proportionate,” it said.
The ICCL quoted from An Garda Síochána’s own use of force guidelines which state that members of the force “will only resort to the use of force in accordance with the law and where it is necessary and proportionate in the circumstances as a last resort and where there is no realistic prospect of achieving the lawful objective by less intrusive means”.
The organisation said striking a person who is already restrained “raises serious questions about the necessity and proportionality of the force applied, and the lawful objective”.
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“The location of the strikes on a person’s body is also relevant when assessing the necessity and proportionality of such use of force,” the ICCL said.
It urged gardaí to use proportionate force in response to any protests this week that coincide with the meeting of the heads of state of the European Union in Dublin.
In a statement on Instagram, The Hist said it was unaware until close to the event that Joe Biden would also be attending.
It said: “He was neither an invited speaker nor a recipient of an award from the society. The society was informed of his attendance at relatively short notice, owing to the security considerations surrounding his visit.”
The Hist criticised some of the protesters, saying the “actions of some individuals went beyond peaceful protest and escalated into confrontation”.
Three people were arrested as a result of the protests. An Garda Síochána has been contacted for comment.
