Police arrest two teenagers under anti-terror law after shooting of journalist in Derry

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

A new breed of terrorist is coming through the ranks in Northern Ireland, the detective leading the hunt for Lyra McKee’s killers said.

Police on Saturday arrested two teenagers in connection with the murder of the journalist in Derry. Officers suspect they are members of the dissident republican group New IRA.

The suspects, aged 18 and 19, were detained under anti-terrorism legislation and taken to a police station in Belfast for questioning.

Det Supt Jason Murphy of the PSNI told a press conference in Derry that terrorists were lurking in the shadows. “What we are seeing is a new breed of terrorist coming through the ranks and that for me is a very worrying situation,” he said.

He said there had been a sea change in community attitudes which was demonstrated in “unprecedented support” for police investigating the killing.

Lyra McKee killing: why Derry never saw a peace dividend Read more

He urged witnesses who had yet to come forward to not be deterred by intimidation. “I know there will be some people who know what happened but are scared to come forward. I want to reassure you that we will work with you sensitively.

“There is a sense that what happened to Lyra marked a sea change and I want people to have the confidence to come forward and help us. Those who killed Lyra in this cowardly attack must not be allowed to do this again.”

Cooperation between the community and police should be part of McKee’s legacy, said Murphy.

McKee’s killing has sparked a backlash against dissident republicans in Derry. They have apologised for her death, calling it a tragic accident by a volunteer who was targeting police. Organisers cancelled a parade on Monday to commemorate the 1916 Easter Rising.

The arrests on Saturday followed the release of security camera footage that showed a masked person apparently shooting in the direction of police Land Rovers during rioting in the Creggan estate, a republican area of Derry, on Thursday night. About 50 petrol bombs were thrown during the riot and two cars were burned out.

McKee, 29, was standing with other civilians near the police vehicles when she was shot. Another person appeared to collect something, thought to be shell casings, from the ground. Additional footage from a mobile phone showed the alleged killer leaning out from behind cover and appearing to shoot.

Police released the footage in hope that the public would help identify the killer.

Further vigils for McKee were due to be held across Northern Ireland on Saturday, including in Belfast and Omagh, as tributes to her work and condemnation of her murder continued.

Play Video 1:34 Lyra McKee: 29-year-old journalist shot dead in Derry – video obituary

The former US president Bill Clinton tweeted: “Heartbroken by the murder of Lyra McKee and the violence in Derry. The challenges in NI today are real – but we cannot let go of the last 21 years of hard-won peace and progress. This tragedy is a reminder of how much everyone has to lose if we do.”

The two suspects were yet to be born when Clinton helped shepherd the Good Friday agreement to fruition in 1998, drawing a line under the Troubles.

Stephen Mallett, a community leader in Creggan, said veteran republicans disenchanted with the peace process had been recruiting young men with poor educations and job prospects.

Government austerity measures and aggressive policing had compounded social exclusion, he said, making it easier for the New IRA and its supporters in the political party Saoradh to find recruits.

Q&A What is the New IRA? Show Hide The New IRA is the biggest of the dissident republican groups operating in Northern Ireland. It has been linked with four murders, including the shooting of journalist Lyra McKee in Derry in April 2019. The group is believed to have formed between 2011 and 2012 after the merger of a number of smaller groups, including the Real IRA, which was behind the 1998 Omagh bombing. Its presence is strongest in Derry, north and west Belfast, Lurgan in County Armagh, and pockets of Tyrone, including Strabane. In January 2019 the group was responsible for a car bomb outside the courthouse in Derry. The explosives-laden car was left on Bishop Street on a Saturday night, and scores of people, including a group of teenagers, had walked past before it detonated. The New IRA also claimed responsibility for a number of package bombs posted to targets in London and Glasgow in March 2019.

“Young people were rallying to their cause,” he said. However, McKee’s killing had united the community against the dissidents. “Now they’re dead in the water. They’ll get no quarter from anybody.”

Amid concern about thepossible escalation of tensions, the leaders of Northern Ireland’s six main political parties said on Friday they were “united in rejecting those responsible for this heinous crime”.

In a rare joint statement, issued exactly 21 years after the Good Friday agreement, they said: “Lyra’s murder was also an attack on all the people of this community, an attack on the peace and democratic processes.” It added: “This is a time for calm heads.”

Play Video 1:44 Lyra McKee's partner and politicians pay tribute to killed journalist - video

The EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, said the killing was “a reminder of how fragile peace still is in Northern Ireland”, adding: “We must all work to preserve the achievements of the Good Friday agreement.”

McKee, a Belfast-born author and journalist who had written for the Atlantic and BuzzFeed, moved to Derry last year to live with her partner, Sara Canning.

In 2016, Forbes Magazine named her one of their 30 under 30 in media. The publisher Faber had signed her up to write two books. The first, The Lost Boys, was due to be published next year. It focused on the unsolved disappearances of children and young men during the Troubles.