Bloody Sunday: Ex-soldier arrested over Londonderry shootings

bbc.com ^ | November 10, 2015 | bbc

[Berlin_Freeper]

A former soldier has been arrested by detectives investigating the events of Bloody Sunday in Londonderry.

Thirteen people were killed when British paratroopers opened fire on a civil rights march through the city in January 1972. A fourteenth died later.

The 66-year-old is a former member of the Parachute Regiment. He was detained in County Antrim on Tuesday by the PSNI's Legacy Investigation Branch.

He is the first person to be arrested as part of the investigation.

[fieldmarshaldj]

They’re just making arrests now, almost 44 years later ?

[wbarmy]

Why do I get the feeling that someone was on his deathbed and made a tell all confession. I cannot imagine how else they got any kind of information to chase this down.

[stinkerpot65]

The scent of political witch-hunt is in the air.

[ConservativeDude]

Maybe.

Or it could be that justice was suppressed for a long, long time and only now it is being faced. If it is true, as the article says, that the army opened fire without warning or provocation, and that some that were shot were fleeing.....you can sort of see why they were pretty ashamed.

[vladimir998]

They’ve probably had some of the info for DECADES. Only now, with much of the “omerta” politics removed can something be done. Civilians have been researching this for 44 years. Calls for investigations went unheeded for at least 30 years. The Irish just doggedly refused to let it go.

[Jack Hammer]

Yeah, what the heck is that all about???

[fruser1]

I remember the Saville report. Funny thing was it was supposed to be treated as historical and not to be used for prosecution. The folks testifying were supposedly granted immunity from such.

There were a few holdouts on the RUC side that would not provide testimony and Saville chided them for not providing information that would possibly contribute to an understanding of the events of the day.

Guess they made the right call after all...

[StoneWall Brigade]

Interesting

[DesertRhino]

“If it is true, as the article says, that the army opened fire without warning or provocation, and that some that were shot were fleeing”

Hardly. It was a time when in the preceding 3 or 4 months, something like 30 British soldiers had been killed in sniping and bombing attacks. Areas of Derry were in revolt complete with barricades. Grenades and IRA murder was rampant. In the middle of that, they took one of their marches towards a nearby community and the Paras were sent to prevent that.
Some of the radicals stormed the para blocking position and the fight ensues.

Without provocation is a bit of a stretch. This was like the Fergusun crowd only much more dangerous and violent.

[af_vet_1981]

Bloody Sunday – sometimes called the Bogside Massacre[1] – was an incident on 30 January 1972 in the Bogside area of Derry, Northern Ireland. British soldiers shot 26 unarmed civilians during a protest march against internment. Fourteen people died: thirteen were killed outright, while the death of another man four-and-a-half months later was attributed to his injuries. Many of the victims were shot while fleeing from the soldiers and some were shot while trying to help the wounded. Two protesters were also injured when they were run down by army vehicles.[2][3] The march had been organised by the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association and the Northern Resistance Movement.[4] The soldiers involved were mostly members of the 1st Battalion, Parachute Regiment, also known as "1 Para".[5]

Two investigations have been held by the British government. The Widgery Tribunal, held in the immediate aftermath of the incident, largely cleared the soldiers and British authorities of blame—John Widgery described the soldiers' shooting as "bordering on the reckless"—but was widely criticised as a "whitewash".[6][7][8] The Saville Inquiry, chaired by Lord Saville of Newdigate, was established in 1998 to reinvestigate the incident. Following a 12-year inquiry, Saville's report was made public on 15 June 2010, and contained findings of fault that could re-open the controversy, and potentially lead to criminal investigations for some soldiers involved in the killings.[9] The report found that all of those shot were unarmed, and that the killings were both "unjustified and unjustifiable." On the publication of the Saville report the British prime minister, David Cameron, made a formal apology on behalf of the United Kingdom.[10]

The Provisional Irish Republican Army's (IRA) campaign had begun two years prior to Bloody Sunday, but the events of the day boosted the status of, and recruitment into, the organisation enormously, especially locally.[11] Bloody Sunday remains among the most significant events in "the Troubles" because of the high number of casualties and fatalities caused by British soldiers in full view of the public and the press.[1]

[manc]

LOL, seriously you read the article and then state how the soldiers just opened fire, how about that they came under fire in the first place and a video out there tells us that we can hear shots before the soldiers shot back. I swear I wish we had a fair non biased media and this witch hunt is just that a witch hunt from the IRA to get money off the Govt.

[fruser1]

A link to the full Saville report. Interesting stuff.

http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20101103103930/http:/report.bloody-sunday-inquiry.org/

[the scotsman]

Amen, CH4 proved this back in 1997, and they were at the time a very left-wing channel, hardly army-friendly. Clear evidence the IRA fired first from the Bogside. Photo evidence of IRA men with handguns in the Bogside. Catholic bogsiders all saying the first shots came from BEHIND them.

[Hulka]

And I am sure all IRA crimes of murder, torture (kneecapping and such), raping, robbery etc are all being victoriously pursued as well.

[ConservativeDude]

from the article:

“The inquiry, led by Lord Saville, took 12 years to complete and exonerated those who died.

It concluded that soldiers fired the first shot and gave no warning before opening fire on the civilian marchers.

The Saville Report also found that some of those killed or injured were clearly fleeing or going to help the injured and dying.”

So, it doesn’t say “without provocation” but does say without warning.

Like I said, “if it is true, as the article says”....b/c I haven’t done my own investigation, I am reluctant to take a strident position here. I’m just saying, “if it is true” then ....certain conclusions have to follow.

Part of the difficulty of talking about anything in Northern Ireland is that thousands of people made careers out of an essentially Manichaean view of one side or the other, which is ludicrous. I am Protestant to the core, but I have no stake in the whole awful history of Northern Ireland in modern times. But I can see that it is not helpful to say that if you blame the soldiers in this context, you are an IRA lackey. That’s precisely the mindset that the UVF and IRA exploited and which perpetuated the whole thing, where close to 4,000 people died for essentially ...nothing. (Good Friday simply put into place what Thatcher had wisely proposed decades before).

Nor does being open to the idea that the army is to blame do injustice to the context. Yes, other soldies (and civilians) had been lawlessly killed/terrorized...obviously this is the case. But as soldiers, they are called to a higher level of professionalism. It seems possible that they failed, and that several deaths resulted.

And certainly there is no statute of limitations on this sort of thing, any more than there should be a statute of limitations on other state crimes such as under communism.

In any event...the article didn’t say “without provocation”. That was my insertion. But it did say “without warning”.

Which brings us back to the modest point...IF the article is true....I don’t know, and I doubt that anyone at FreeRepublic actually “knows” the truth and the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, unless they have the mind of God. But IF the article is true....then an injustice was committed, and should be brought to the light of day.

[Timpanagos1]

The cops must have heard U2’s Sunday Bloody Sunday, one too many times and made the arrest in hopes of never hearing that or any other U2 song again.

[manc]

I remember seeing that too.

Shame an article puts out half truths and even on here some buy it.

The IRA Adams etc always sue or complain . IRA on their way to bomb a police station but ambushed by the SAS and Adams etc tried to sue and complained.
IRA about to bomb soldiers in Gibraltar and the SAS shot them and Adams and co tried to sue and complained..

The press always state it was the Paras, but more in the action were the Royal Angligan regiment.

Still at least the BBC and the press can still put out this crap to back a witch hunt and get people to believe their crap

[manc]

The article is not true, it also leaves out many facts.

BTW I was there for a year and half when the troubles were going on and saw how the IRA, Adams, McGuiness etc used kids, marches , and riots to move weapons or shoot at the cops and the army.

[ConservativeDude]

There is no question that Adams and McGuinness in particular are sick, depraved murderers and charlatans.