The Greysteel massacre is a mass shooting that occurred on the night of October 30, 1993 in Greysteel, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. Members of the Ulster Defense Association (UDA), a loyalist paramilitary group, shot civilians at a crowded pub during a Halloween party, killing eight people and wounding nineteen. The pub was targeted because it was frequented by Catholics. The group claimed responsibility for using their cover name "Ulster Freedom Fighters", saying the attack was a revenge for the Shankill Road bombings by the IRA Temporary one week earlier. Four people were sentenced to life imprisonment for the massacre, but released in 2000 under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement.
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On October 23, 1993, the IRA bomb went off prematurely when the bombers took it to a fish and chips shop in Shankill Road, Belfast. The intended target IRA is a meeting of UDA leaders, including brigadier Johnny Adair, who will take place in a room above the store. Unknown to the IRA, the meeting has been rescheduled. Eight Protestant civilians, members of the UDA and one IRA bomber were killed in the blast. This is known as the Shankill Road bombing.
UDA launched a number of "revenge attacks" for the bombing. Later that day, he shot an introductory sender of Catholicism after asking him to make a fake call at Vernon Court, Belfast. On October 26, the UDA shot dead two other Catholic civilians and wounded five others in an attack at Council Depot in Kennedy Way, Belfast.
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Planning
The slaughter is planned carefully. The order for the attack came from the UDA leadership, and Greysteel is believed to have been chosen in part because it is far from Belfast, where the security forces activity is intensified after Shankill's bombing. Those involved in the planning and organizing include Billy McFarland, 'Brigadier' ​​from UDA North Antrim & amp; Londonderry Brigade. Stephen Irwin, Geoffrey Deeney and Torrens Knight, all members of the brigade, will do the shooting. The gunmen were first informed of the 27 October massacre at an office belonging to the Democratic Party of Ulster at Bond's Place, Derry. Before the massacre, gunmen went to the pub to familiarize themselves with the layout and choose the best position to take. Knight made Irwin and Deeney practice shooting at the office at Bond's Place. The gunmen will go to a pub in Opel Kadett with UDA member Brian McNeill driving the scout car up front. After the shooting, gunmen would push Kadett to a pick-up place near Eglinton, where they would meet McNeill and set fire to a car.
Massacre
Just before 10 pm on Saturday October 30, the three gunmen, dressed in a blue kettle and balaclavas suit, entered the "Rising Sun Bar" in Greysteel. There are at least 70 people in attend the Halloween party and at first some believe the guys are playing Halloween jokes. Stephen Irwin shouted "trick or treating" when he opened fire with the VZ58 assault rifle on the crowd in the living room. He kept firing until the magazine was empty, quickly refilled, and resumed shooting. Geoffrey Deeney fired a shot with a 9mm pistol on a woman who fled, but stalled after a single shot. Torrens Knight, armed with a rifle, guarded the entrance when the shooting took place. There was panic and screams as people rushed for cover and the women begged for mercy. The scene in Rising Sun is described as "like hell"; corpses lie everywhere, and the sitting room and dance floor are covered with blood and broken glass. The gunmen, laughing, then flee at Opel Kadett driven by Knight. Driving from Greysteel, the wing mirror of a vacation car was hit by a police car driving toward the scene.
Seven people died instantly and nineteen people were injured, and others later died of his wounds. The dead are Karen Thompson (19), Steven Mullan (20), Moira Duddy (59), Joseph McDermott (60), James Moore (81), John Moyne (50), John Burns (54), and Victor Montgomery (76 ). ). Six of those killed were Catholic civilians and two Protestant civilians.
The next day, UDA claimed responsibility for the attack using the cover name "Ulster Freedom Fighters" (UFF). His statement said that the "Greysteel attack" was "a continuation of our threat against nationalist voters that they would pay a heavy price for last Saturday's slaughter of nine Protestants". A UDA member from West Belfast claimed that his organization "had information that senior IRA people were drinking at Rising Sun... Unfortunately they were not there on Halloween but our sons acted on the direction given to them". After that, the gunmen were said to have boasted about the murder.
The pub is still open in Greysteel. There are warnings for victims outside the building who say: May their sacrifice be our way to peace .
Convictions
The involved UDA members were arrested shortly after the massacre. During their first court appearance, Knight was filmed laughing, ridiculing and shouting abuse at relatives of the victim as he was taken from the building. In February 1995, Irwin, Deeney, Knight and McNeill were sentenced to life imprisonment for their involvement in the attack. Knight was also convicted of Castlerock's murder. In 2000, they were released early - along with other paramilitary prisoners - under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement. Irwin called the massacre a "retaliation" and said he was "unrepentant". Once released, both Irwin and Knight are believed to have joined the militant Neo-Nazi Combat group 18.
In 2005, Irwin received a four-year prison sentence for cutting a man with a knife. This means that he also now has to undergo the eight life sentences he received for the Greysteel massacre. In 2006, he left an appeal against the punishment. In September 2013, Irwin was released from prison for the second time after applying to the Sentence Commander Sentence for early exemption. The commissioners decided that the application should be granted and he was immediately released.
There are claims in the media that Knight is a paid informant for the British security forces. Knight denied the claim. In October 2007, the Police Ombudsman's inquiry concluded that the police had no prior knowledge that could help them prevent Greysteel attacks. The researchers found no evidence that Knight was protected from the law.
See also
- The timeline of the Ulster Defense Association action
- Castlerock assassination, mass shooting of UDA in March 1993
- Loughinisland Massacre, UVF mass shooting in June 1994
- Marie Jones drama, A Night in November, recalled the massacre and its impact on a Protestant football fan living in Belfast.
References
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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