PSNI ‘attacking families’, shots fired

The PSNI have been accused of using excessive violence against whole families, including young children, amid increased concerns over heavy-handed policing in republican areas.

The 32 County Sovereignty Movement in Derry said the predominately Protestant police force had “rough-housed” a local Catholic family at a toy store in front of both customers and staff.

“The RUC/PSNI manhandled and abused them, leaving the young children in tears,” a spokesperson said in a statement.

“The children were inconsolable and traumatised to such an extent that when the RUC had completed their abuse, the kids actually apologised to the parents for having asked to bring them to the toy store”.

The 32CSM also said that in south County Down, a member of the organisation and his son were heavily beaten before being arrested and charged with assault. Violent house raids also took place at homes in Derry and Belfast this week.

“The silence of the great and good, the media and the bought and paid for politicians is nothing short of a disgrace,” the 32CSM said.

The renaming of the RUC had been a “cosmetic exercise designed to try and lend a veneer of respectability around a corrupt British sectarian force”. They said Stormont politicians had also encouraged the mainstream media to “censor and bury” news of attacks on Catholics.

“They feed on junkets around the world portraying the occupied Six counties as a finished project, perpetuating a myth that all is fine and dandy whilst trying to sell themselves as peace ambassadors with all the answers,” the statement read.

“Their only answer is to ignore human rights abuses at home whilst massaging their personal egos abroad.”

SHOTS FIRED

In an apparent escalation of the situation, there were reports that shots were fired in the direction of a PSNI patrol in west Belfast on Thursday.

Sinn Fein’s Martin McGuinness condemned the incident. “There are people out there who are totally opposed to the peace process who are dedicated to trying to plunge society back into the past,” he said.

“The people who are involved in these attacks really need to explain to the public what they are all about because one thing is for sure and that is that they are totally futile, no matter the outcome, to affect the political institutions or the very firm direction of the peace process moving forward.”

Urgent Appeal