A man was jailed yesterday by the Circuit Criminal Court in Dublin for his activities in an anti-lockdown protest in February 2021.
He was convicted of endangerment of Gardai at the protest. You may have seen the footage on television or on social media of a protest at which a man threw a firework at the Gardai on Grafton Street.
The firework perforated the eardrum of a Garda and two other offences of kicking another Garda in the testicles and punching one in the face were taken into account in sentencing.
Jake Merriman was jailed for 20 months, and the Judge noted that he was violent, aggressive and hostile on the day.
Merriman was not hostile in Court, however.
He was contrite and repentant and was offering the excuse that it had been a moment of madness after a night’s drinking, and he accepted that he had been foolish.
The Judge told him he should bring €5,000 to Court for the injured Garda, if he would accept it. The Court was told that Merriman had €10,000 in Court for the Garda as a token of his remorse.
Meanwhile, in the United States we see other individuals, members of the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys and other far right Donald Trump supporting groups pleading seditious conspiracy to overthrow the Presidential election outcome and prevent the smooth transition of power from Trump to Joe Biden.
It’s always the same when these guys, full of piss and vinegar at the time, are going to overthrow the State and ignore the law when they don’t like it.
They all come to Court and recognised the majesty of the law and plead guilty and abase themselves and appear contrite in an attempt to minimise the legal sanctions that are inevitable.