Former Sergeant-in-Arms Kevin Vickers was the first to react when a protester, wearing a 'Justice for the Craigavon' t-shirt, interrupted an event in Grangegorman Military Cemetery this morning to commemorate the British soldiers who died in 1916.
The male protester stood up during a wreath laying ceremony before shouting "this is an insult".
But Mr Vickers, who was attending the event, quickly tackled the man and physically moved him away.
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Captain James P. DeCOSTE, CD, 18 Sep 1993
Corporal Jean-Marc H. BECHARD, 6 Aug 1993
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Haha I love this. There's no hesitation. Not even for a second.
__________________ "The great promise of the Internet was that more information would automatically yield better decisions. The great disappointment is that more information actually yields more possibilities to confirm what you already believed anyway." - Brian Eno
At this point, the only thing he's missing is the superhero three point landing where ever he goes.
__________________ "The great promise of the Internet was that more information would automatically yield better decisions. The great disappointment is that more information actually yields more possibilities to confirm what you already believed anyway." - Brian Eno
Probably the comment section. Not gonna lie, reading some of those stupid comments made me wish I could somehow reach into my computer monitor and punch these people in the face.
A lot of the judgmentalism is rooted in politics and hindsight. The fact that this was a memorial ceremony for British Army soldiers who died in the Easter Uprising is already a matter of controversy at a time (100th anniversary) where the passions of the Irish are already inflamed only adds to this. I was just in Dublin a couple weeks ago, and banners and events related to the uprising were everywhere.
In hindsight, the protester did not appear to ultimately be a threat. In the moment, however, all Vickers knows is that someone who clearly should be there was rushing toward a group of dignitaries. AFAIAK, he acted perfectly. He defused a potential situation with a minimal use of force. Basically, he just turned the guy away from the crowd. Protestor still gets his message out, and the ceremony continued.
Kevin Vickers Still Kicking Ass
