Community groups in Ireland are raising concerns over the “excessive force” used in an incident that took place in Dublin, where a man was restrained on the ground by security guards and died shortly after.

The man has been named as Yves Sakila, who was from the Democratic Republic of Congo and had been living in Ireland for over a decade. Mr Sakila, aged in his 30s, died in the afternoon of Friday, May 15.

At the weekend, Gardaí confirmed that they were alerted after security personnel detained a man on Henry Street following an alleged shoplifting incident. They said that Mr Sakila, whom they did not name, “became unresponsive at the scene and was transported by ambulance to the Mater Hospital, where he was later pronounced deceased”.

Following the incident, a video circulated online showing security guards who appear to be restraining Mr Sakila on the ground, pushing down on his head and neck. In the video, which is believed to have been taken by a bystander, Mr Sakila’s body appears to be completely covered by men and held down even after he stopped moving.

The incident is being investigated by gardaí in Store Street and has also been referred to Fiosrú, which is the body that investigates events where a person is seriously injured or dies following contact with members of the Garda.

After footage of the incident that took place in Dublin’s city centre circulated online, several community groups condemned the “excessive force” used to restrain the man and called for an investigation.

Taoiseach Micheál Martin offered his condolences to Mr Sakila’s family and added that “a lot of people are clearly very concerned” in the aftermath of the event.

“My deepest sympathies go out to his family, and to the wider Congolese community,” he said. “The situation will have to be thoroughly investigated, and needs to be thoroughly investigated.

“I don’t want to prejudice the outcome of that investigation but I think a lot of people are clearly very concerned about what has transpired here.”

The Irish Network Against Racism (Inar) described the Dublin incident as “extremely disturbing”, adding that it “appears to have the hallmarks of a case of excessive use of force”.

“The death of a black man in such circumstances is extremely worrying, and we urge the authorities to thoroughly investigate all of the circumstances leading to this man’s death, in order to ensure minority ethnic community confidence in the criminal justice system,” Inar Director Shane O’Curry said.

 

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Black and Irish also released a statement following the events, saying: “There are no words to describe this. Regardless of what had happened prior to this event unfolding, no one should have to face this level of excessive force.

“There is no crime in Ireland that is punishable by death. This unfortunately resembles too many cases that we can look back to, where excessive force is used against a black person.

“We are deeply disturbed by this. We understand the pain, anger and deep sadness that this is causing many people from all walks of life. We particularly recognise the harm that this is causing to the Congolese community of which Mr. Yves-Sakila was a member,” the group stated.

 

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United Against Racism organised a vigil on Henry Street on May 19 to honour Mr Sakila in the wake of his death.

 

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