Kevin Vickers, Canada’s ambassador to Ireland, tackled a protester at a ceremony to honour British soldiers in Dublin on Thursday. The protester says he holds no ill will.
Vickers is a former Mountie and sergeant-at-arms who made headlines across Canada for his role in helping to stop a gunman who opened fire on Parliament Hill on Oct. 22, 2014.
In footage of the incident on Thursday, Vickers can be seen running up to an unidentified man who was shouting “it’s an insult,” grabbing him by the arms and pulling him away.
Police arrested Brian Murphy, 46, a manager of a youth and community centre in Dublin and charged him with breach of public order.
Murphy told The Canadian Press he had expected to be arrested, but didn’t anticipate international attention paid to his protest against what he sees as unjust arrests of Irish Republicans. "Things are grand," he said.
Murphy said he’s not sure whether Vickers should have tackled him. “Maybe he had a different perception of what was happening or what my intentions were,” he said.
“I would hope that the ambassador maybe take some time to read about the reasons why I was making a protest there,” he added.
Jennifer Bourke, a spokeswoman for Ireland's foreign affairs minister, said Vickers “reacted instinctively to prevent the individual's encroachment and the Gardai (Irish police).”
Canada’s Global Affairs Department confirmed in a statement to CTV News that at the ceremony, Vickers “intercepted a protester who ran up to the podium.”
“Ambassador Vickers is safe and was not injured during the incident,” the statement said.
The ceremony, which took place at the Grangegorman Military Cemetery in Dublin, commemorated more than 100 British soldiers who were killed trying to end the Easter Rising in 1916.
Michael Ryan, a reporter covering the ceremony for Irish broadcaster TV3, said approximately 100 dignitaries had just taken their seats when the protester disrupted proceedings.
“About 10 feet away from where I was sitting, a man stood up … and started moving towards the podium, shouting about how this was an insult for people who had fought for Irish freedom.”
Ryan said the protester also made reference to two men who were sentenced for killing a policeman in Northern Ireland in 2009.
As the man approached the podium, Ryan said Vickers stood up and “proceeded to bundle him out the side.”
Then, Vickers “let go” as multiple police officers took over.
“Ambassador Vickers just went back in and took his seat and let the Irish police handcuff the man and lead him away,” Ryan said. “So it was very dramatic.”
At the time, people speculated that it was a plainclothes police officer or security worker who had grabbed the protester.
“It was only when the ceremony actually finished, that people started saying, ‘I think that may have been the Canadian ambassador,’” Ryan said.
Vickers ‘was following his instincts,’ brother says
The surprising hands-on action from a federal dignitary comes as little surprise to one of Vickers’ brothers, who says the former Mountie “probably just followed his DNA.”
“I would just say it’s probably Kevin being Kevin,” John Vickers told CTV News Channel on Thursday from Victoria.
“It appears as though he was following his instincts, and we’re just proud as always that he continues to do such a great job in representing the country over there.”
It’s unlikely that the ambassador sought any attention from the quick take-down, the brother added.
“I can almost assure you that Kevin would not be seeking any sort of limelight in this sort of situation. He simply would feel as though he was doing what he thought was best,” he said.
Ottawa shooting
Vickers was hailed a hero in the aftermath of the 2014 Ottawa shooting, in which gunman Michael Zehaf-Bibeau shot and killed Cpl. Nathan Cirillo, a reservist who was standing guard at the Canadian National War Memorial. Zehaf-Bibeau then stormed Centre Block, where Vickers and six RCMP officers opened fire in an attempt to stop the attack.
Zehaf-Bibeau was shot and died from his wounds.
Vickers was named Canada’s ambassador to Ireland in January 2015.
