This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/apr/20/two-teenagers-arrested-over-lyra-mckee

The article has changed 12 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 1 Version 2
Two teenagers arrested over Lyra McKee killing Two teenagers arrested over Lyra McKee killing
(30 minutes later)
Two teenagers have been arrested by Northern Irish police in connection with the killing of the journalist Lyra McKee in Derry. Police in Northern Ireland have arrested two teenagers in connection with the killing of the journalist Lyra McKee in Derry.
The men, aged 18 and 19, were detained under anti-terrorism legislation and taken to a police station in Belfast for questioning, the Police Service of Northern Ireland said. The suspects, aged 18 and 19, were detained under anti-terrorism legislation and taken to a police station in Belfast for questioning, the Police Service of Northern Ireland said in a statement on Saturday morning.
An outpouring of tributes to the 29-year-old was led by her partner, Sara Canning, who said McKee’s “amazing potential was snuffed out by this single barbaric act”. The arrests followed the release of security camera footage that showed a masked person apparently shooting in the direction of police Land Rovers during rioting in the Creggan area of Derry on Thursday night. Around 50 petrol bombs were thrown during the riot and two cars were burned out.
Detectives released footage of the shooting in the hope the public could help find her killers. McKee, 29, was standing with other civilians near the police vehicles when she was shot. Another person appeared to collect something, thought to be shell casings, from the ground. Additional footage from a mobile phone showed the alleged killer leaning out from behind cover and appearing to shoot.
The Belfast writer was shot in the head by people police believe were dissident republicans linked to the New IRA during clashes with police on the Creggan estate on Thursday night. Police released the footage in hope that the public would help identify the killer.
The CCTV footage released by police captured McKee’s final moments at around 10pm, when she stood among a crowd of other innocent bystanders and raised her phone in the air, apparently to photograph the violence. Further vigils for McKee were due to be held across Northern Ireland on Saturday, including in Belfast and Omagh, as tributes to her work and condemnation of her murder continued.
Shaky mobile phone footage also released by detectives showed a masked man leaning out from behind cover and appearing to fire shots towards police and onlookers. Around 50 petrol bombs were thrown in the confrontation and two cars were burned out.
Political leaders joined to condemn the killing.
Michelle O’Neill, Sinn Féin’s deputy leader, described it as a senseless loss of life and blamed it on “so-called dissidents” who opposed the peace process.
The prime minister, Theresa May, said McKee “was a journalist who died doing her job with great courage”, while the Irish taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, said: “We cannot allow those who want to propagate violence, fear and hate to drag us back to the past.”
The former US president Bill Clinton tweeted: “Heartbroken by the murder of Lyra McKee and the violence in Derry. The challenges in NI today are real – but we cannot let go of the last 21 years of hard-won peace and progress. This tragedy is a reminder of how much everyone has to lose if we do.”The former US president Bill Clinton tweeted: “Heartbroken by the murder of Lyra McKee and the violence in Derry. The challenges in NI today are real – but we cannot let go of the last 21 years of hard-won peace and progress. This tragedy is a reminder of how much everyone has to lose if we do.”
A vigil held in McKee’s memory in Creggan on Friday was organised by residents who said they felt sad and angry. The two suspects were yet to be born when Clinton helped shepherd the Good Friday agreement to fruition in 1998, drawing a line under the Troubles.
McKee had recently moved to Derry to live with Canning and was an editor for the California-based news site Mediagazer, a trade publication covering the media industry. In 2016, Forbes Magazine named her one of their 30 under 30 in media, and she was working on a book due to be published in 2020. Stephen Mallett, a community leader in Creggan, said veteran republicans disenchanted with the peace process had been recruiting young men with poor educations and job prospects. Government austerity measures and aggressive policing had compounded social exclusion, he said, making it easier for the New IRA and its supporters in the political party Saoradh to find recruits.
The New IRA is the biggest of the dissident republican groups operating in Northern Ireland. It has been linked with four murders, including the shooting of journalist Lyra McKee in Derry on Thursday night.
The group is believed to have formed between 2011 and 2012 after the merger of a number of smaller groups, including the Real IRA, which was behind the 1998 Omagh bombing. 
Its presence is strongest in Derry, north and west Belfast, Lurgan in County Armagh, and pockets of Tyrone, including Strabane. 
This year the group was responsible for a car bomb outside the courthouse in Derry. The explosives-laden car was left on Bishop Street on a Saturday night in January, and scores of people, including a group of teenagers, had walked past before it detonated. 
The New IRA also claimed responsibility for a number of package bombs posted to targets in London and Glasgow in March.
“Young people were rallying to their cause,” he said. However, McKee’s killing had united the community against the dissidents. “Now they’re dead in the water. They’ll get no quarter from anybody.”
Amid concern about the possibile escalation of tensions, the leaders of Northern Ireland’s six main political parties said on Friday they were “united in rejecting those responsible for this heinous crime”.
In a rare joint statement, issued exactly 21 years after the Good Friday agreement, they said: “Lyra’s murder was also an attack on all the people of this community, an attack on the peace and democratic processes.” It added: “This is a time for calm heads.”
McKee, an author and journalist who had written for the Atlantic and BuzzFeed, moved to Derry last year to live with her partner, Sara Canning.
In 2016, Forbes Magazine named her one of their 30 under 30 in media. The publisher Faber had signed her up to write two books. The first, The Lost Boys, was due to be published next year. It focused on the unsolved disappearances of children and young men during the Troubles.
UK newsUK news
newsnews
Share on FacebookShare on Facebook
Share on TwitterShare on Twitter
Share via EmailShare via Email
Share on LinkedInShare on LinkedIn
Share on PinterestShare on Pinterest
Share on WhatsAppShare on WhatsApp
Share on MessengerShare on Messenger
Reuse this contentReuse this content