Notable figure in anti-immigrant march arrested over alleged garda assault

Part of the initial incident was recorded by the man on his phone and uploaded online.

The man engaged in verbal abuse of the gardaí before going over to the driver’s window, which was open, where he allegedly grabbed the car keys and took them.

When the two uniform gardaí got out of the car and attempted to get the keys back, the man is alleged to have punched one of them a number of times in the face. He is also accused of taking the garda’s car radio.

It is alleged he resisted arrest and gardaí deployed pepper spray to bring him under control.

The man was taken to Store St Garda Station and detained, before being brought to court on Tuesday morning and charged on five counts.

They include assault under Section 2 of the Non Fatal Offences Against the Person Act, two charges of theft — the cars key and the official radio — as well as breach of the peace and obstructing a police officer, both under the Public Order Act.

The man had played a notable part in the anti-immigration march earlier through Dublin city centre. The demonstration had attracted a small crowd, less than 200 people.

In a separate investigation, a man was arrested in relation to two arson attacks on a vacant property in Leixlip, Kildare, on January 30 and February 7 last.

It is understood the suspect, who is expected to be charged with trespass, is a local man who has been observed at a number of protests recently.

The property had been incorrectly rumoured to be a premises intended for use as an asylum accommodation centre — rumours gardaí had tried to dispel after the first incident.

In another unrelated investigation, two more people were arrested by gardaí as part of clashes between riot squad gardaí and protestors at Newtownmountkennedy, Wicklow, last April.