Prison officer killed in suspect dissident ambush

GRMA wrote: »

It really is disappointing how loyalists make everything out to be about religion - talk about paranoia - and this is from people who largely don't even bother practicing their religion.

They shot a prison officer because he was a prison officer working in the republican wing. I doubt there are many catholics working that job. He wasn't shot because he was a protestant, he just happened to be.

That of course doesn't make the murder any less reprehensible but there shouldn't be this sectarian spin put on things to preemptively justify any possible action by loyalist paramilitaries. Just the other day a loyalist was caught video recording taxi depots in nationalist areas.

I'm not saying junder is doing this but he seems to have swallowed that spin. Its not an attack on the protestant community, if killing a PO is sectarian then were the POs killed by the UVF killed for sectarian reasons, or was it something to do with what went on in the jail?

Actually I have long said within my own community that at somepoint the dissidents will start targeting Protestants involved in the security services, for the reasons I have stated many times in this thread. They will specifically target these people not only because it will provoke loyalists but also because they know that people like you will continue to bieve the lie that these people are not sectarian. As for the loyalist paramiltarys as thing stand, I don't believe they are going to react this time. But I will let ken wilkinson speak for them

Progressive Unionist Party Antrim spokesman Ken Wilkinson



THE man who represents many of Ulster’s loyalist prisoners has called for no retaliation over the killing of one of their prison guards.
Ken Wilkinson, south Antrim representative for the UVF-linked Progressive Unionist Party (PUP), called for calm in the wake of the murder, but said that some loyalists had already been feeling unhappy before the incident took place.
Mr Wilkinson, who is also the spokesman for loyalist inmates in the Bush 1 and Bush 2 wings of Maghaberry Prison, said many of the prisoners knew David Black and had a high regard for him.
Mr Wilkinson said: “I have to offer my condolences to the Black family.
“They [prisoners] knew him. He was a human being, and treated people as human beings. His job was that he was there to look after people – people who broke the law.
“I’ve spoken to several prisoners and he just had that sort of charisma about him. Some people do their job, and do it right.
“If you speak to a person in a proper manner you gain a bit of respect, and David Black seemed to have gained the respect of a lot of people he spoke to.”
He also said that he regards the attack on the prison officer not as an attack against unionists – but against nationalists, too.
He said: “There’s a lot of frustration, a lot of anger, not only from the loyalist community but from the whole community in Northern Ireland about what took place... I believe it was also an attack on the nationalist community and the young men and women thinking about going into that job.”
There are around two dozen prisoners in the two loyalist Maghaberry wings, from different paramilitary factions. Mr Wilkinson said republican frustrations over strip searches and treatment by guards at the prison were ill-founded, because loyalists and republicans were subject to the same measures.
He said much work had been done to steer loyalists away from violence, and the PUP’s position is to stick by the peace process, although there are “frustrations” which some loyalists feel over perceived attacks against traditional Protestant culture.
But he said: “I’d appeal to all loyalists for cool and calm heads.
“In the past, we had attack after attack on our communities.
“It didn’t change the constitution of Northern Ireland.
“Let the powers that be deal with this – the PSNI.
“I appeal to all factions of loyalism not to retaliate, because that would be playing to their agenda – and we shouldn’t be playing to their agenda.”
The death of Mr Black came not long after the News Letter was contacted by someone claiming to be from a dissident loyalist group.
Referring to themselves as “Grugg”, the caller claimed that the group was an alliance between UVF, UFF and LVF members based in the Portadown area.
He added that they had up to 120 members, had trained with weapons outside Bangor recently, and were led by a former UVF commander.
Refusing to give a name or contact details, the caller said that “there’s nothing being done here about dissident republicans”.
“They’re murdering soldiers, murdering police, and getting away with it... Orange halls are being targeted here,” he said.
The caller said he would be back in touch and would send material to the newspaper, but nothing has been received.
Mr Wilkinson said he doesn’t attach weight to such talk.

“It does make our job harder,” he said. “I know there are people out there frustrated and angry.
“When one looks at what loyalism has had to accept, the people now sitting in power, the likes of McGuinness, I appeal to young loyalists to look at the constitution of Northern Ireland. It is standing fast.”

Interesting this is what the judge concluded from the massereen shooting:

"I consider that there is insufficient evidence to satisfy me beyond reasonable doubt that, whatever Duffy may have done when he wore the latex glove or touched the seatbelt buckle, meant that he was preparing the car in some way for this murderous attack. And I therefore find him not guilty," the judge said. He said the prosecution had failed to link Duffy to the murder plot.

junder wrote: »

Read eamon Collins books 'killing rage' former intelligence officer for the Tyrone brigade of the IRA ( now dead at the hands of his former colleagues) gives a good account of how targets where selected and how intelligence was gathered before the kill was made

Collins was from Newry, not Tyrone. Also your attempts to portray this as a sectarian killing are farcical, they target members of the army, police etc on the basis they believe they are enforcing an occupation. By your logic they are sectarian against Catholics due to the fact they killed Ronan Kerr and targeted Peader Heffron.

FTA69 wrote: »

Members of your community were also armed members of the crown forces, whether you like it or not they shot UDR men and police officers because they were part of armed wings of the British state. They shot plenty of Catholic ones too. By all means criticise this killing, but don't delude yourself that it occurred solely because the man was a Protestant.

And that in a nut shell is why mr black made such a good target, because that's the argument that will always be rolled out be republicans. A direct provocation to the loyalist community and still able to justify it as an attack on the 'British state'

I don't have the link so I will have to post the entire articule. Another interesting analysis as to why mr black was killed

ANALYSIS: Targeting of an Orangeman


David Black was gunned down as he drove to work at the high security Maghaberry prison in Co Antrim (PSNI/PA)



By BEN LOWRY



IN targeting a prison officer who was both an Orangeman and who was in the service at the time of the hunger strikes, dissidents appear to be trying to do two things.
First, they have murdered someone whom they think will receive less sympathy among not only republicans, but moderate Irish nationalists.
This is primarily because of Mr Black’s Orange membership.
But they are also hoping that moderate nationalists will feel that anyone who served during the hunger strikes is tainted.
The calculated killing of Mr Black highlights the fact that there are members of the Prison Service who have decades of service, which is much less likely in the PSNI, after the large-scale Patten redundancies.
It fits the dissident narrative that Northern Ireland is unreformed, and indeed irreformable, despite what Sinn Fein would say.
Second, the murder of an Orangeman is closely linked to another targeting strategy that seeks the same outcome, but from the opposite direction: the killing of Catholic security force members. They have murdered two Catholic PSNI officers – Stephen Carroll and Ronan Kerr – and maimed a third – Peadar Heffron.
But in the case of Kerr and Heffron, who were prominent GAA players, they seemed to target PSNI officers who are not merely Catholic, but immersed in Gaelic culture.
By doing so, dissident terrorists hope to scare off potential security force recruits who have such a background.
If that intimidation succeeds, the dissidents will be able to say that the police and Army are made up of Protestant-dominated ‘securocrats’ – servants of what republicans would call the Orange State.
Another not-so-subtle message of this murder, which seems the work of experienced assassins, is that the Prison Service has not been transformed in the way that the RUC, and its successor the PSNI, were transformed by redundancies and 50-50 recruitment.

FTA69 wrote: »

Members of your community were also armed members of the crown forces, whether you like it or not they shot UDR men and police officers because they were part of armed wings of the British state. They shot plenty of Catholic ones too. By all means criticise this killing, but don't delude yourself that it occurred solely because the man was a Protestant.

you are correct they did shoot plenty of members of the security forces generally at thier civilian places of work were they were unarmed and generally in the back. needless to say, Mr black was unarmed to.
So was it ok for the provies to shoot people like Mr Black back during the 'troubles'?

GRMA wrote: »

The family won't let any SF members attend the funeral. His orange brethren probably didnt want any taigs around the place.

This should be an occasion for both sides to unify, not stand apart.

I doubt they're banning SDLP members attending & they are nearly all "taigs" too

Sinn Fein would have defended attacks like Mr Black's throughout the troubles and glorifed them in an phoblacht. Of course the family don't want them near the place

I think its very feckin ironic that you have spent the thread arguing the reals are not sectarian and targeted Mr Black over his job... but then when his family request no Shinners at his funeral you jump to the conclusion it is for sectarian reasons. Come on now...

GRMA wrote: »

You saw the fuss when Orange men went to Kerrs funeral.

We dont even know his family were in the OO or not. Its neither here nor there though because they object to order members attending RC services not RCs going to Protestant services.

Its plainly obvious the family don't want SF members there because they were the political wing of the IRA and not because their members are mostly RC. Can you genuinely not see that angle?

Like I said - why no objection to SDLP politicians attending?

GRMA wrote: »

The family won't let any SF members attend the funeral. His orange brethren probably didnt want any taigs around the place.

This should be an occasion for both sides to unify, not stand apart.

Wow, I can't Actully believe that somebody would stoop so low as to attack this family for choosing who can or can not attend the funeral of thier loved one. That's low