Sandwith Street protester says chilling gun photo posted online was just a ‘joke’

Kevin Coyle – who played a prominent role in last week’s protest at Sandwith Street – accompanied the image with the words: “Let’s go take all ‘them’ out. (Wait and see how long it is before police come to me over this)

“But they can say/do whatever they want but we say/do anything, we are racist!!!! Go f**k yourselves.”

The image was widely shared on social media this week after People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy posted it on his social media account as he expressed concerns about increasing activity levels of far-right activity in the country.

“For the people who keep saying ‘there’s no far right, just concerned parents … This is Kevin Coyle who was a key leader of the protest at Sandwith St on Friday night, protested outside my house and disrupted a PBP (People Before Profit) meeting in Jobstown last night.”

Coyle responded to Murphy’s message describing the image as a ‘joke’, adding it had been originally posted in response to another video shared by ‘Britain First.’

“Right, above that picture I posted, this was posted and that picture I put up was in response to this,” he said.

“I was joking. Good to see ye’s cant understand humour.”

Coyle was a prominent presence at the Sandwith Street immigrant camp protest on Friday night of last week and also protested against the introduction of LGBTQ literature in schools outside Norma Foley’s office in Tralee during the week.

He is aligned with the ‘Ireland First’ political movement.

Ireland First was founded by Corkman Derek Blighe who has become one of the most prominent ant-immigration campaigners in the country.

Over the past year, Blighe has been moving throughout the Republic organising protests against asylum seekers and refugee accommodation while also making videos that are later widely shared online.

On its website, Ireland First promotes what has been described as conservative rather than extremist policies around immigration – which it says should be capped at 10 per cent – and LGBT issues which it says should not be ‘pushed’ on under 18s in Ireland’s schools.

However, overtly racist and homophobic messages as well as messages calling for violence, are regularly shared on the group’s invite-only Telegram site.

Videos recorded at Sandwith Street immigrant encampment protest on Friday night of last week showed how Coyle appeared to take a leading role in verbal hostilities with a group who gathered to support the immigrants.

The video shows him shouting ‘You are f**ked’ at members of the rival group through a line of dividing gardaí.

In the hours after the face-off between the pro Refugee and anti-immigrant demonstrators, the makeshift camp for homeless refugees was attacked and their tents torched.