NI: Ombudsman to investigate consistency of policing across Black Lives Matter protests and Bobby Storey funeral
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Marie Anderson
The Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland has launched an investigation into an allegation of race discrimination in the police handling of a Black Lives Matter protest in Derry last summer.
A member of the public who took part in the protest on Saturday 6 June 2020 has alleged inconsistencies in the policing approach to engagement and enforcement in comparison to the funeral of Bobby Storey which amount to race discrimination.
A spokesperson for the police ombudsman, Marie Anderson, said she “has a statutory duty to investigate qualifying complaints about police conduct and is satisfied that the complaint, received on 6 April 2021, is one that she is required to investigate”.
The investigation will focus on matters related to the engagement of the PSNI with the organisers of the protest in advance of the event. The investigation will examine if this engagement was consistent with the PSNI’s approach to the organisers of Bobby Storey’s funeral.
The investigation will also examine the PSNI strategy, policies and decision-making around the two events in light of this complaint.
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