crime
Attackers stopped in Dublin: Donations for delivery drivers
Caio Benicio, a Deliveroo rider, used his helmet to hit a stabbing attacker in Dublin, possibly preventing more victims. photo
© Brian Lawless/PA Wire/dpa
After the riots in Dublin, the clean-up work is underway. Many people are wondering how the excesses of violence came about. But there is also room for a heroic story.
He hit a knife attacker with his helmet Dublin and possibly prevented more victims: a delivery driver is showered with money for his courageous intervention. By midday on Sunday, the “Buy Caio Benício a pint of beer” fundraising campaign had raised more than 350,000 euros.
Prime Minister Leo Varadkar praised the Brazilian and other bystanders who intervened in Thursday’s massacre as “real Irish heroes”. More than 160,000 euros were also donated for the victims.
In the attack, three small children aged five and six as well as a carer were stabbed, some seriously injured. The motive remains unclear. After rumors spread on social media that a migrant was the attacker, hundreds of people, including many right-wing extremists, rioted in the Irish capital on Thursday evening. They looted shops, attacked police officers and set emergency vehicles and buses on fire. Dozens of people were arrested.
Criticism of the Minister of Justice and the police chief
Commentators also blamed a debate about migration for the excess of violence. Right-wing forces claim that asylum seekers in particular are driving crime in the EU country and exacerbating the housing crisis.
Migration has increased sharply since the 1990s. Around one in five of Ireland’s five million inhabitants are now born abroad. So far, the question has not played a major role in public. Many Irish people see migrants as valuable workers. Sinn Fein, a left-wing progressive party, is the strongest political force.
Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald called on Justice Minister Helen McEntee and Police Chief Drew Harris to resign. Police lost control of parts of the Irish capital on Thursday and made “catastrophic operational errors,” McDonald said, according to the Irish Times newspaper. Cabinet member Paschal Donohoe accused Sinn Fein of abusing the escalation for party political purposes. Prime Minister Varadkar supported the emergency services.
Preliminary arrests over the weekend
In order to prevent new riots, strong police units were deployed in the city center at the weekend. Several people were temporarily arrested. They were suspected of planning riots. As the broadcaster RTÉ reported, the Irish police received two water cannons from the British province of Northern Ireland in order to be prepared for new riots.
The delivery driver, who according to media reports has a 12-year-old son and a 19-year-old daughter and has been living in Ireland for a year, was driving past the crime scene when a man attacked the children. “When I saw the knife, I stopped my motorcycle and acted instinctively,” Benício told the British news agency PA. He hit the man with all his might with his motorcycle helmet.
The 43-year-old criticized the riots that followed as senseless. “I know that anti-migrant groups were also involved. And I, as a migrant, was the one who helped hold back the attacker,” he told the Irish Times.
“Irish Times” on delivery driver “Irish Times” on criticism of RTÉ report