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Video credit: YouTube/Adele J King

A protester has told how he will make a complaint to the garda watchdog after his head was allegedly dragged along the ground by a group of officers while he was having an epileptic fit.

John Rooney, 22, was rushed to hospital after he fell unconscious during the skirmish at a ‘Gaza demonstration’ on Saturday.

A video, seen above, has emerged of the incident which shows three uniformed officers pulling Mr Rooney along the road near the US embassy in Ballsbridge, South Dublin.

Now Mr Rooney, from Cabra in North Dublin, has told the Irish Mirror that he intends to make a formal complaint to the Garda Siochana Ombudsman Commission (GSOC) this week.

He said: “They grabbed me by the legs and dragged me along.

“I’m in shock. You wouldn’t just pick someone up and drag them along the road. It’s surreal, I still don’t believe it.

“They have a duty of care to the public and they didn’t show that by the way they handled it.”

Mr Rooney explained that he had attended a march through Dublin city centre with 6,000 others on Saturday to protest against the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas in the Middle East.

The protest snaked its way through the city before ending at the Israeli and US embassies in Ballsbridge afterwards.

However one protester breached the barrier at the Israeli embassy and was later arrested by gardai.

Mr Rooney explained that they began chanting and claimed that gardai then arrested two more.

“The crowd wanted to know why they were arrested so they decided to stand in the road until the guards told them why.

“After 10 minutes a garda came over and issued a section to the entire group of people. He told us to leave the road.

“At this point I was sitting on the ground and I got up and walked to the side of the road.”

Mr Rooney claimed he was pushed and then walked towards the centre island on the road.

He alleged: “The guards pushed me on the ground and I don’t remember anything after that. I woke up in hospital that evening at 8pm.

“I don’t remember being lifted up or anything. But I have a cut above my and on my shoulder. An individual had to give me medication because I was having a seizure.”

The video, shot by Adele J King, emerged of the incident this morning.

The clip allegedly shows Mr Rooney knocked to the ground and then dragged along the street for a short distance by two officers.

The gardai attempt to handcuff him but eventually allow pals to administer medicine to the protester after it became apparent that he was having a seizure.

Ms King, who shot the video, claimed: “The police proceeded to used undue force to clear the road, resulting in the hospitalization of a further two activist.

“The activist seen in this video was handled in a manner which could have seriously endangered his life as he was dragged by his feet, thus compromising his neck, causing his ears to bleed, which was followed by an epileptic fit.”

A garda spokeswoman declined to comment on the incident.

She confirmed that three people were arrested and two people were hospitalised.