Here’s a bit of the video. This is ridiculous. pic.twitter.com/NqEAf8aRMd
— Eoin Ó’Faogáin (@Eoin_OF) July 6, 2016
Last night.
Eoin Ó’Faogáin writes:
If you ever wondered why in the north inner-city people feel wary of the Gardai and how they behave, here’s an example.
Last night I was coming back from playing five-a-side with two friends. Car gets pulled over. Garda says can you pull in and leave the vehicle. Mate says ‘what for?’ Garda says ‘where are you going?’
Mate (above) says ‘on the way back from football and I’m going home to Sheriff Street. Why are you asking me to pull over?’ Guard says just get out please. Mate points out his constitutional rights.
Next thing two more gardai appear and tell him he’s being arrested. Mate asked, then I asked, ‘WHAT FOR?’ They refused to answer. Cuffed him, left his car in the middle of the road and then the gardai who were left with the car laughed about how they’d have to get a tow truck and bring it to Donabate “for a laugh”. Here’s a bit of it I got on video here.
We kept asking what he was being arrested for and garda who was left there says “why are you asking me, I haven’t “a clue.”.
Last two gardai got in their car with our mate’s car still in middle of road and shouted out “enjoy your walk home boys”. WTF?
Previously: We Need To Talk About The Guards
why did your mate not want to get out of the car? i don’t know if you noticed there have been a lot of killings in the area? Maybe you could have been more compliant with the request instead of giving him your inner north city guff? Don’t be surprised when people from the rest of Dublin comment that your reap what yis saw.
Your name is suitable.
exactly. “dun nothin wrong”. well you did actually. its a very hot area crime-wise and all you had to do was get out of the car and comply. its these road stops that are in fact making the area that bit safer for all in amongst the gangland warfare that is going on. to act totally incredulous and ignorant to this fact when a garda asks you a few simple questions and to get out of the car is idiotic imo
Everything you describe occurred after they were pulled over and mostly arose from the Guard’s refusal to say what they were being pulled over for.
But not an arrestable offence.
So just being in an area that is “very hot crime-wise” is grounds to be stopped in your car for no reason and arrested without charge?
The arrest presumably was for refusing to pull in.
He didn’t refuse. He asked why. Fair question I would say for which he was pulled out of the car and arrested.
Aside from that, they were unecessily aggressive and extremely obnoxious. I’ve little faith in the guardians of our state.
Those pop-up road stops are for show only. I’ve driven towards them a number of times and if there’s traffic building up, I’ll turn down a side street and take an alternative route. And I have insurance, tax and NCT in order. And, by the way, I’m not carrying any firearms…
Police abuse of power is great so long as it happens to Northsiders, apparently.
And if a guard asked you to dance around a bit and suck him off without giving cause or voicing a suspicion?
They’re not empowered to order you around with impunity, this isn’t a police state. Thank fupp, since our police force is a corrupt, incompetent joke.
You have limited intelligence.
haha hun dats mean hun ur terible xxx wb hun
whereas if a guard asked YOU to dance around a bit and then such him off, you’d be right on it
The Guards dont just pluck people off the street for nothing…..
@Human – They do. Honestly they do. When I was 15 (not far from where this incident happened) a group of around 5/6 friends of the same age where picked up off a street corner where we were kicking ball among ourselves and put into the back of a Garda van and brought to The Bridewell Garda station. The arresting Garda threatened us with ‘a hammering’ if we were seen in the area again – this was about 100meters from my house??
I grew up in Sheriff Street and this happened to myself and my friends all the time. To this day I still instinctively look at the ground when I walk past a Guard.
You poor poor man, I hope you can cope
You’re not a nice person. On the inside, like. We can see your insides, and they’re not anything anyone would wish for their children.
I’ll live, if you can call it living.
How do you know that?
Yes, sometimes it’s because of their clothes, their age, their accent or the colour of their skin.
#northsidelivesmatter
#srettameditor
#alllivesmatterandnonemorethananyother
I’ve fixed it:
#ofcoursealllivesmatterbutpleasedonotusethatasanexcusetoignoretheseriousissueofendemicinstitutionalisedracismagainstnonwhitepeople
+1 You really have to question the intellect and emotional stability of someone who gets offended by black lives matter.
Seriously you two, I wasn’t being offended, ffs :) nor taking away from anyone’s message, I responded to a ‘northside’ comment from another commenter having fun, nothing more.
Anything more read into that is just you, xx
Suppose that is the case. Suppose they had reason to pick the poster’s friend up. Do you think they handled doing so in any way correctly? Refusing to tell him what he was being arrested for? Leaving a car on the road that is causing an obstruction? Getting aggressive with the guy’s bewildered friends? (The attitude of the male guard filmed was childish and defensive.) Telling the poster (erroneously) that he had no permission to take a video or to post it on social media?
Even if the guy they picked up is guilty or suspected of something (and I’m not saying he is; just responding to your post), none of this was handled correctly. The Gardaí have a duty of care to act in a professional, non-confrontational manner. What this video looks like (and the description of how the poster’s friend was treated) is a police force that seems to think they’re above the people they deal with and that they have free rein to act however they like. I expect better from our police force. Don’t you?
+1
+1 Ricky
Very well said
+1
perfect
+1
The Gards handled it wrong.
Well said Ricky
“The Guards dont just pluck people off the street for nothing…..”
They do and they do on the behest of politicians who want to hassle people of another political persuasion. It’s illegal, it’s a breach of human rights and it should not happen in a normal functioning democracy.
They cannot just arrest and cuff people for no reason can they? He was not speeding , had not done anything wrong. This smacks of garda power abuse which many have been on the end of. The guards complain about certain communities and they go around bullying and intimidating locals like this. Its no wonder the locals have no trust or time for the guards. They need to rebuild and earn the respect of the people and this type of stuff is not helping.
Call in the Army. That will sort them out.
for the northsiders or the guards?
For YOU
Run and hide my friend.
‘We have reason to believe you may be transporting infected cattle – holy jaysis lads there’s two heifers in the back seat fire fire fire!’
That is no way to refer to these lad’s girlfriends.
LOL ……
You can only be arrested if the Garda has “reasonable suspicion”. In this instance there appears to be none that we know of, only the arresting officer can answer that and to be sure by now they’ve already filed their fairytale story of why the man in the video was lifted.
How do you know it’s a fairy-tale story? That’s just an assumption on your part.
Is the car still abandoned on the yellow box?
I used to be like that, battle the guards every step, talk about rights. I realised eventually it was fruitless, only ended up in court dates.
I’ll tell you now no one will care about this, you and your mates might be going on about for ages as a huge injustice, no one else will give a shtie especially when everyone, and I mean everyone knows, all you had to do was show your documents and not speak and you would have driven off.
+1
And ye can’t drive ….lol
Yeah I mean to be honest, giving lip to a guard or a spouting your civil rights will only result in delays, unnecessary hassle, just comply with stops, show your ID, be polite and understand that their only concern is that there are no more shootings in the area.
Half right. It’s probably advisable to just comply bit you should film the whole thing on your phone and make a complaint afterward. Bowing to abusive authority cause is just stupid.
that’s whats wrong with this part of Ireland – tip your forelock, head down and don’t stand up for yourself – let the guards walk all over you – move along quickly and forget about it. I think the fellas did exactly the right thing – question the guards at every opportunity if they are behaving like the RUC. Post this video everywhere, get legal advice. It’s pure and unadulterated discrimination.
You’re mostly right. I’d say ask why you’re being arrested, say nothing and demand a lawyer straight away. Get your mates to video it if possible.
I’m the guy that got arrested actually. Just joined Twitter because Eoin mentioned that he had put this clip up. We were in a queue at the checkpoint waiting patiently. When it was our turn the Officer saw that tax, insurance and NCT were in order but came to the passenger window and asked where we were going. Passenger informed her that we were going home. Officer asked where that was and I (being the driver) asked if all was ok and if we were good to go. Officer seemed to get annoyed, much rolling of eyes etc and started making demands. I pointed out that all my docs were in order and that we were peaceably making our way home as we are constitutionally guaranteed the right to do. I asked if we were being detained or if we were good to go. Cop told me to pull over, I asked why, had I committed a crime? Was I a suspect in a crime. She got highly annoyed and called a few other officers over. One asked if I was on drugs and I knew then it wasn’t going to end well so I started recording. I told that officer about my constitutionally guaranteed right to free movement but he asserted that I have no constitutional rights. He then said there was a strong smell of alcohol from the car (absolute rubbish, last drink I’d had was in Paris at the Ireland Sweden game). Officer tried to grab my phone and when I moved my hand away grabbed me and got quite heavy handed, put me in cuffs and mangled the left wrist cuff as tight as he could. In the car I asked the officer beside me if he could loosen it and he grabbed my arms up behind my head and pushed me between the passenger seat the the frame of the car telling me to stop being so aggressive, calm down etc. I hadn’t said or done anything to warrant that. I was thinking they must have audio or video recording in the car and were saying all this stuff to build something against me. Even when I was brought into the station I was asked (in front of their sergeant) “if I take these cuffs off will you stop being so aggressive”. Officer told me in the station that road traffic legislation is so vast and vague that they can basically arrest anyone for anything once they “formulate an opinion” it was given as s friendly warning.
Wow. That’s worthy of a blog post all by itself. Thanks for writing that Keith.
I can understand concern at abuse of surveilance powers but in this case it was a checkpoint in an area of recent gun murders… why not tell him the street you were going to?
Everything that happened after that was plain wrong.
Sure why stop there deluded? Why not ask him to take confession and give me absolution. If I came across someone begging at traffic lights or one of those guys selling the Herald at traffic lights, I wouldn’t tell them either. The point is it’s none of their business. It was Garda Traffic Corps, they were checking tax, insurance, NCT etc and all was in order. They can work away at that but I have no interest in engaging them in conversation or divulging any personal info whatsoever. Had I been implicated in a crime I would have assisted in any way I could
You don’t need permission to film in a public place you dumb guard
You’d think the Gardai would be on top of filming by the public and how to handle it. It’s not like it’s not a hot button issue: The United States stands on the edge of civil war due to filming of police abusing their power.
cant believe people still shoot mobile video in portrait – whats the world coming to
this
Stupid Gardaí being stooooooopid!
It is difficult to give any verdict from that short clip of video tbh.
Given that tensions are high in the north inner city at the moment & that there is a gangland feud going on, I do wonder why your mate didn’t just politely pull in & assist the Guard?
Being asked to pull over is hardly a breach of your constitutional rights.
Of course it could be.
is it something up with the car? I cant find that reg in the motor tax or NCT systems? false plates?
I’ve ran the plates as a few combinations of 03WW485X and I can’t get a match. If its on false plates, no wonder he was pulled.
Also, why do people wait until the cuffs are on until they start filming?
Well I dont think the guard said ” right lads I am going to arrest him now so if you want to start filming, now is the time”.
If you ever wondered why in the north inner-city people feel wary of the Gardai and how they behave, here’s an example.
We’re hardly dealing with a south central LA style of policing here. It’s not like we’re inundated with reports of white northside youths being pulled over for no reason.
As someone pointed out, The north inner city has been the location of some very very visible crime lately, it’s hardly surprising there’s a bigger police presence and while this seems like a massive overreaction, we only have 1 persons version and a video that’s less than useless.
Police – Sir show me your ID
Man – *reaches for ID”
Police – *poppoppop* I told him to stop reaching into his pocket!
This actually happened.
This is the same as that.
I’m sorry, are you actually equating a US police officer shooting a suspect with this?
Yes, that’s it.
Where’s my sarcasm font?!
Apologies, I was moyesed for a while and didn’t get it. An unfortunate side effect
“Police – *poppoppop* I told him to stop reaching into his pocket!”
He was chewing gum?
Indeed, the correct term to use is “pewpewpew”
http://funnyand.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/I_wanna_be_a_spaceman_20131222_Iwannabeaspaceman.jpeg
The North Inner City has been the location of some very very visible crime for the last 25 years and there is fupp all police presence in the area considering the size of the problem.
It’s also to be noted that when that guy was shot outside Noctors earlier in the year there was a lot of comments condemning how that whole area of the city was being completely ignored by gardai.
No excuse for them being heavy handed, I don’t know if they were as I haven’t watched the video.
Friend should’ve started recording earlier.
Ask for and record all officers’ names and numbers.
Then it’s “has there been a complaint against me?” and “have I committed an offence under the public order act?”
Legal Coffee Drinker please…
lawyer up.
Giving stupid people power often has negative consequences. There really should be some sort of personality assessment for becoming a cop.
Free thinkers are not popular in the Gardai, they want people who will follow orders, tow the line, maintain the “them vs us” h’attitude and on top of that some real c*nts want to be Gardai
I’ve never come across an intelligent cop. Dumb motherfuppers with a chip on their shoulder who love asserting power over people because they don’t have the gumption to *win* anyone’s respect. “some real c*nts want to be Gardai”. I mean, what type of person wants that job, really?
I’ve come across a few but then again, I’m not trolling people from 2nd arts.
Once you grow up and get out in the world , you’ll realise that just like all other walks of life, there’s good ones and bad ones.
People who make sweeping generalisations however……
You are so deluded it’s almost cute. I know you’re dreaming of being a guard when you grow up but you just have to accept that people don’t like dumb fuppers abusing their power. Now get back to your world of water after game, King Troll.
That project isn’t going to write itself Moyest, best get back to it.
Can anyone translate the above? I don’t speak Troll, sorry.
Sorry, What evidence is there that anyone in this video is stupid?
Cop apologist.
FIght the power Tish.
Remember Harry Enfield’s tory student character in the 90s? Rotide reminds me of him so much. Hes just some delusional teenager who recites slogans. But then hes the board troll, so what do you expect?
“What are you asking me for? I don’t know why he was arrested”
Fair enough Mr. Garda. Carry on then.
Guards doing their job.
Geting lippy for the sake of it in a gangland murder hotspot.
You come crying here when the obvious happens?
Jog on..
“Geting lippy for the sake of it in a gangland murder hotspot.”
AKA, like the road you live on, your community.
a post from Legal Coffee Drinker on what exactly are one’s rights when being stopped by AGS would be useful
+1 I would read the hell outta that.
+1
+1
And a +1 for your name.
North inner city lives matter
All those people who are coming on here to essentially say “Don’t give lip to authority and you’ll be grand”–have ye learned nothing from Irish history? I don’t mean to be facetious or flippant but that is the exact collective attitude that allowed the Magdalene laundries to stay open into the 1990s, that allowed widescale physical and sexual abuse to thrive in our religious and education institutions, and that has enabled the cronyism and massive corruption that we’re still seeing in our political spheres today.
Feck never questioning authority. The idea that we all have to be submissive, mute sheep to be worthy of our basic human rights is incredible to me. The acceptance of this “be a good lad and we’ll give you a pat on the head and maybe we won’t feck you over” approach from authority in this country has to stop. It’s done none of us, bar those in power, any favours in our history.
+1000 Ricky Ricardo
Questioning authority is good.
Giving sh!t to a cop who has asked you to pull in is stupid. It is not be submissive, it is being cooperative. They have a job to do, help them do it.
Now if they are doing something obviously wrong, it is different.
Best way to deal with the Gardai, if they ask you to do something, do it. If they ask you to pull over, pull over. If they ask you to leave the area, leave the area etc etc. I honestly believe most of the Gardai are power hungry, uneducated dopes. Some are good but if you shut your mouth and do as they say your life will be easier. The world is not perfect, they’re cops, you are not.
I’m sorry but this logic will only go so far and we may all end up like those poor possibly TB infected cattle did. A reasonable answer to explain why a person is being detained is not a feat of gargantuan proportions and nor is it disrespectful to ask. A line has to be drawn at some point were we just do what we’re told.
Detained? The guy wouldn’t even pull over
It seems completely unbelievable that a Garda would think that she’s able to say “I’m not giving you permission to video this or produce any social media.” Was she just chancing her arm, or does she have no idea what her powers are?
Well son, daddy’s selling the farm & you have made an obsolete hames s of yer junior cert,
god only knows what yer leaving cert will turn out like….so what are ye planning to do with yerself?
Don’t know mammy, don’t know, tinkn a joining de gards mammy….pass the buher mammy.
Whats your job?
trolling
I think all the comments saying “best way to avoid this is to just do what they say” are probably, broadly, quite true in many isolated circumstances. But that doesn’t mean that whenever the above happens to someone that we blame the someone. It’s worthwhile challenging abuses of power even when it’s possible to appease said power.
Think a lot of people have no idea of their rights when arrested.
http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/justice/arrests/arrests.html
If you are arrested on a criminal charge, you must be informed at the time you are arrested of the charge unless this is very clear (for example, if you are arrested while committing an offence).
After you have been charged, the Garda must caution you with the following words: “You are not obliged to say anything unless you wish to do so, but whatever you say will be taken down in writing and may be given in evidence.”
We don’t know if the arrested guy was informed of the charge.
All we know is that his friend was not informed of the charge. I’m not sure the guards are under any obligation to inform associates of the charge?
“I’m not sure the guards are under any obligation to inform associates of the charge?”
Yes they are. You need to learn these basic facts before you get your own job and flat and stop trolling people on your ma’s laptop all day long.
Have you got any sort of link to back that up? No mention of it anywhere in the document above
Google it, you lazy troll.
If you want to back up your hypothesis, then it’s up to you to do the research. Not me. Untill then I’ll just assume you’re making things up.
Oh, the broadsheet resident troll doesn’t believe something? It mustn’t be true so. The fact you won’t look it up yourself because you want to one up someone proves to everyone that you’re just some troll idiot, not to be taken seriously. Go shave your neckbeard and read a book you absolute parody of a “man”.
Get a room you two.
In other words “I’m actually wrong, but I’m not going to admit it and instead throw around some insults i read on cool websites”
Yeah that does tend to be your repetoire. Thays why you’re King Troll, junior.
Still no proof anywhere that Gardai must inform associates of the charges of the arrested I notice.
You can make it your weekend project if you like.
Like I said, you can Google it if you’re actually interested in it, but you’re not interested in it. You’re only intersted in trolling, you bafflingly dimwitted cretin. Honestly, i feel embarassed even talking to you.
I broke google because I am a cretin, please enlighten me O great one. Show me where it says this
Nah. Do your own work, you tedious troll. At least the likes of Joni is entertaining.
so many ignorant, right-wing people commenting here that these lads deserved this. unbelievable. the usual out-dated irish attitude of ‘shut up and do as ur told’, which is the same way of thinking that has this country run by a bunch of self-serving, incompetent school teachers. keepin the head down and sayin nothing is no longer what we are about. the new generation arent taking it like the old. so step aside and let us at it.
scenario A: Driver did something criminal or otherwise and deserved to be arrested.
Response by the guards to people causing no offence is absolutely inexcusable.
Scenario Z: Driver is an an innocent angel commited no offence and guards were heavy handed to arrest him.
Response by the guards to people causing no offence is absolutely inexcusable.
Pick any other combination of events to fit your perceptions and judgements anywhere between scenario A-Z
Response by the guards to people causing no offence criminal or otherwise is absolutely inexcusable.
we should expect more from our public servants, the bear minimum is simple respect and manners. regardless of what we percieve the proceeding events to be
‘Response by the guards to people causing no offence’
What response? The bystander was prettty much being ignored because he was making a nuisance of himself
The assumption by posters here that these lads are suspicious because the cops arrested them is exactly the point of the these illegal stops. It’s to taint some members of the public as possible criminals.
You’ll probably find that Eoin is a member of a political party who the establishment don’t like having a voice in our democracy.
Eoin is, in fact, according to his Twitter page, “Pro-choice & LGBTQ* rights campaigner, community activist & musician” and “Branch Secretary” for the Social Democrats’ Dublin Central branch.
Well there you go. SocDems are anti-corruption and Fine Gael hate them with a passion for it.
So I’m guessing this was a politically motivated arrest for no other reason than to intimidate and harass. That is illegal and cases can be brought against the offending officers and their commanding officer who ordered the arrests.
Get GSOC involved.
a politically motivated arrest for no other reason than to intimidate and harass OR the guy had dodgy reg plates and there was a warrant out for the car?
It’s all a bit shroedingers cat seeing as we have no way of knowing if either of those statements is true.
Number plates were not false. You are now perpetuating a defamatory statement.
So what exactly is it you are Editor of?
Well you are perpetuating your own fantasy myths also, there’s not much difference.
Also, whats with your obsession with defamation and suing people suddenly?
Why do you bother trying it on with me Rotide. Every time you are successfully challenged you revert to your childish whataboutery nonsense instead of acknowledging you were disproved.
That’s a sign of a mediocre mind.
Nice bit of deflection there.
Lets both just sit here and refuse to answer each others questions.
It’s like a dail themed mini-game!
@Tish
“Well there you go. SocDems are anti-corruption and Fine Gael hate them with a passion for it.
“So I’m guessing this was a politically motivated arrest for no other reason than to intimidate and harass. That is illegal and cases can be brought against the offending officers and their commanding officer who ordered the arrests.”
You know what, I’m actually open to the idea that it wasn’t politically motivated and that the guards in question just chose the wrong guy to pick on, blissfully unaware that a passenger in the car has connections in politics.
I would guess that this sort of nonsense happens often enough. I’m from a small, badly off town where the dogs in the street know someone who was roughed up by the guards after an arrest but where nothing is ever done about it because those people don’t have the connections or the standing in local society to make a big stink about it. The guards know who to pick on in that town and have free rein to make lives miserable.
The guards here might have just chosen the wrong car to mess with, never thinking that anyone in the car would have the connections to make life difficult for them. If that’s the case, I await the political fallout on this with glee. I can’t imagine the Social Democrats (especially Catherine Murphy) will let this lie.
Anecdotal, I know but a friend of mine’s father was a relatively important Republican and his kids, who had no involvement in the movement, have been routinely harrassed by the guards, even after his death. Political policing is a reality.
Oh I don’t doubt that it happens, Moyest. I think I’m more hoping that it’s a case that these guards accidentally stepped onto a political landmine, because the thought of them bricking it when they find out is the only thing that makes me feel better about how this was handled.
the car in question presents with a reg of 03KK4859 when its actual reg is 03KK4059, the lad has clearly modified the plates to evade speed cameras/tolls/whatever. Id say the garda car ANPR went mad and due to murders etc.. they detained him as false plates could also mean false driving licence etc… They were unable to verify his identity.
Let me just completely debunk this potentially defamatory statement, accusing someone of criminality.
The number plate in question DOES display 03-KK-4059 but the bolt attaching it to the body of the car is in the middle of the zero, hence giving an impression of and eight, which is a common issue with number plates.
What you need to explain is if you genuinely read the number as an eight, how did you magically find another Honda Civic with the zero? You can only search a number of Motorcheck, not all silver Honda Civics and then scroll down to conveniently find another with a similar number.
So you made up a little story to undermine the credibility of this person. Now why would you want to do that?
I suggest you retract your comment unless you want a court case in your hands.
Mr T = Tish = Redacted. CONFIRMED.
You’re like the little kid who hides behind the bully.
I just disproved the number plate slur which you ran with and now you revert to obsessing about Mr. T. instead.
Like anyone cares.
What are you talking about? Bully? Who exactly am I hiding behind?
You are spouting drivel about suing people just like Mr O’Brien might. Didn’t take you long to revert to those middle class roots you keep talking about eh?
More whataboutery.
“You are spouting drivel about suing people just like Mr O’Brien might.”
“Mr”. Lol. This authority loving, simple minded troll would be voting Trump if he was a Yank.
After a bit of Jim Garrison-esque playing with the video; “Back, and to the left… back, and to the left… back, and to the left…” I discerned there wasn’t a magic bullet here, only a black bolt in the upper hemisphere of the ‘0’. Sterling work Mahorey. The only conspiracy here is a perversion of justice but not one pervaded by Eoin and friends.
Line 1. – ..false plates Joe, so he had Joe, don’t blame him Joe, cost me 149 yo yos for 1 trip across the m50 toll Joe, bridge is built & paid for donkeys years ago….extortion Joe..
Joe. – ..sewer, sewer…
Line 1. – .. crucifying me Joe..
Joe. – …& so what did you do with the letter from Pierse Fitzgibbon?
Line 1. – ..wiped me bleedn hole with it Joe..so I did…
Eoin Ó’Faogáin (the original poster) has updated his Twitter page to say his friend was “let out of Store Street” after an hour and a half. No mention of any charges.
https://twitter.com/Eoin_OF?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Typical harassment arrest.
Lawyer up and charge them with false arrest.
Think, even the politicans will admit, privately, the guards, are not the ehh, sharpest tools in the box.
There be plenty of ehh, tools in the box.
History repeats.
Any poltician who thinks, let alone admits, something as simple-minded as that is making a much bigger admission about their own thought processes