Man to appear in court over threats to kill Mary Lou McDonald and Drew Harris
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A man in his 20s has been charged in connection with online death threats made against Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald and Garda Commissioner Drew Harris.
The man posted an online video supporting the public disorder in Coolock, north Dublin, on Monday.
He concealed his face with a balaclava, in which he called on people to carry out an extreme act of violence on Mr Harris and said he would shoot Ms McDonald himself “for free”.
He posted the video on his own, named TikTok account, where there are other videos of him without any face coverings and is clearly identifiable.
He is scheduled to appear before the Criminal Courts of Justice on at 10:30am this morning.
The Special Detective Unit arrested the man in south Dublin on Wednesday during a search of his home.
He was arrested on suspicion of making threats to kill or cause serious harm under Section 5 of the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act 1997.
He is detained at a Dublin station under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act 1984, which allows for 24 hours’ detention, excluding rest breaks.
It is understood officers collected a range of evidence at the scene and seized digital devices, including his mobile phone.
The individual is not considered a prominent far-right agitator but is known to local gardaí.
Security sources do not believe he had the “capacity” to carry out his threats, but are concerned the video, which has been widely circulated across social media platforms, could influence other individuals, who are spending their time on various far-right channels.
Taoiseach Simon Harris said that he had spoken to Ms McDonald yesterday to "express my full solidarity with her".
Mr Harris himself has been subject to a bomb threat and is one of a number of senior politicians from across the spectrum to be on the receiving end of abuse, threats or personalised protests in recent months.
"I mean, what she has experienced is despicable. I don't want to cut into something that's before the courts, but nobody should be in any way - in public life or in their private life - subjected to that level of abuse, whether it's Deputy McDonald, whether it's myself or my family, whether it's other politicians [such as] Paul Murphy, I know his experiences in the past, Roderic O'Gorman or my colleague Minister [Helen] McEntee, this level of toxicity in politics has to stop.
"We're in the European Union, where one of my counterparts in Slovakia experienced an assassination attempt in recent weeks as did former President Trump in recent days. Mary Lou McDonald's and I have our political differences.
"I would always debate them with her respectfully, as I'm sure she would. But I am a fully, fully fully paid up member of the club. When this sort of thing happens. Whether it happens to a government or opposition or anybody in our country, it should be called out."