TD Mary Lou McDonald, the President of Sinn Féin and leader of Ireland’s opposition party, has spoken out about a death threat that was made against her online yesterday, July 16.
“Last night a threat to kill me was issued online. The individual said he would shoot me dead,” McDonald said on social media on Wednesday.
“This represents an escalation of targeted online abuse directed at me over the last year. It is totally unacceptable.
“I have reported this to An Garda Síochána.
“Ironically, this threat was made while I was hosting a discussion on the need for zero tolerance when it comes to violence against women and girls.”
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, McDonald further said the campaign against her has been “vicious, it has been sexist, misogynistic, it has been racist, and it’s also politically contrived to cause a problem between me and the working class communities that we represent.”
McDonald said she is “satisfied” that Gardai are going to handle the threat.
“But this cannot stand. It cannot stand that on any social media platform or anywhere else that somebody can brazenly come forward and threaten to take your life and somehow imagine that that is acceptable or okay or part of a political conversation. It’s not.”
She added: “I’m no shrinking violet. I’m not a bit precious about people making all manner of commentary, but I’m drawing the line. I’ve had enough of it, quite frankly.”
While she admitted she is “upset” about the threat, McDonald said: “It’s clearly not going to put me off doing my job and carrying out my democratic function and representing people to the best of my ability.”
This death threat is an escalation in a vicious, sexist, misogynistic, racist campaign against me that has been ongoing for over a year and that has been politically contrived to cause problems between me and the working class communities we in Sinn Féin represent.
I’m drawing… https://t.co/gdMRh2Ai6p pic.twitter.com/omxT9lDo6g
— Mary Lou McDonald (@MaryLouMcDonald) July 17, 2024
In a video circulating on social media and seen by IrishCentral, a man wearing a makeshift balaclava films himself responding to the recent disorder in Coolock, north Dublin in an expletive-laden and threatening tirade.
"F---ing this is ridiculous, lads," the man says. "Get up the lads in Coolock, get up. F---ing love yous lads, yeah.
"Petrol bomb the f--- out the lot of them, lads. Get up.
"Don't worry, lads. We'll be down to help yas, yeah, we'll be down to f---ing help yous, lads. Don't f---ing worry about that lads, yeah. Yous have more backup than yous think lads, yeah.
"F---ing take that Drew Harris [Commissioner of the Garda Síochána] prick as well. Take his whole throat, lads. Take Drew Harris's throat off. F--- Drew Harris.
"F--- the lot of them in that f---ing Dáil. F--- everyone, f--- everyone! Think about your f---ing self.
"F--- Drew Harris. He'll be getting shot. He'll be getting f---ing blasted, I swear to god on that. He'll be getting shot before the end of the year.
"And see Mary Lou? I'll shoot her meself for free, I will, yeah. I'll do her for f---ing free, I will, yeah.
"F---ing little rats."
The man concludes his video by saying "Gavin Pepper for f---ing President. Get up."
Pepper, an Independent who frequently claims "Ireland is Full," was recently elected to Dublin City Council for Ballymun-Finglas.
On Monday, in a video filmed in Coolock during the unrest, Pepper said "you need to send these illegal migrants home" and on Tuesday, he accused Commissioner Harris of 'orchestrating the entire riot.'
The Irish Examiner reported on Wednesday the man who issued the threats online against McDonald and Harris, believed to be in his late 20s and from west Dublin, posted the video on his own named TikTok account, which contains other videos where he has no face coverings.
A Garda spokesperson told the Irish Examiner: "An Garda Síochána is aware of footage posted to social media on Tuesday, 16th July 2024.
"An Garda Síochána is investigating this matter."
In a separate statement earlier on Wednesday, An Garda Síochána said it was continuing a criminal investigation into all of the circumstances of the Violent Disorder and Public Order events that occurred on Monday.
An incident room has been established at Coolock Garda Station and a Senior Investigating Officer has been appointed.
An Garda Síochána said it is in the process of collating and harvesting CCTV and social media images from the events on Monday.
An Garda Síochána acknowledged the significant volume of support received from the public to date including calls to Coolock Garda Station, the Garda Confidential phone number and receipt of images and videos from members of the public.
An Garda Síochána appealed to anyone who may have witnessed these incidents to come forward.
Any road users with camera footage (including dash-cam) who were on the Malahide Road or surrounding areas on Monday between 9 am and 8 pm are asked to make this footage available to Gardaí.
An Garda Síochána continues to appeal to any person with any information on the events on Monday or has any information on persons organising or involved in Monday’s events to contact the Garda investigation team.
The Garda investigation team can also be contacted at Coolock Garda station at 01 666 42000, the Garda Confidential Line 1800 666 111 or any Garda station.
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