Anti-lockdown protesters say that despite a couple of people causing hassle at Saturday’s protest, “the vast majority were peaceful”.
They say that there was a pleasant and peaceful atmosphere at the protest before things turned vicious with two versions of what onlookers say happened.
Some say that gardai hit people with battons to try and cordon two sections of the protest off, while others say that some protesters hit garda with weapons.
Either way, brutal scenes were seen around the country and indeed the world after the videos below went viral. Organisers say that they’re going to fight on and that they’re determined more than ever to hold large protests in the future.
A planned anti-lockdown protest turned nasty on Saturday afternoon in Dublin’s Grafton Street as gardai and protesters clashed following a major tense standoff.
Footage shows practical riots taking place on Grafton St with some onlookers saying protesters struck gardai first at the top of Grafton St while other onlookers saying gardai struck protesters first at the entrance to St Stephen’s Green park.
At 2pm, the protesters were due to meet at the entrance of the park but gardai closed it off before it was due to start.
At 2:30pm, protesters had planned a livestream gig that would show defiance to “draconian lockdown measures” with protesters claiming “they’ve had enough”.
After 3pm, it all kicked off, see the footage below. A number of people were arrested with investigations ongoing.
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