The Ancient Order of Hibernians (AOH), the oldest and largest Irish Catholic group in the US, has responded to this week's verdict for Soldier F, the former British paratrooper accused of two murders and an additional five attempted murders in Derry on Bloody Sunday in 1972.
On Thursday, Soldier F was found not guilty of murdering James Wray and William McKinney, as well as not guilty of the attempted murder of five other people - Joseph Friel, Joseph Mahon, Michael Quinn, Patrick O’Donnell, and another unknown person.
Believed to be in his mid-70s, Soldier F had pleaded not guilty and did not testify during the non-jury trial that began in Belfast in September.
In his verdict on Thursday, Judge Patrick Lynch said: "The evidence presented by the Crown falls well short of this standard and signally fails to reach the high standard of proof required in a criminal case; that of proof beyond a reasonable doubt."
Judge Lynch, however, did say that Soldier F, as well as Soldiers G, H, and E, "had totally lost all sense of military discipline" on Bloody Sunday.
He added: "Those responsible should hang their heads in shame.”
Martin Galvin, the National Freedom for All Ireland Chair of the AOH, released the following statement on Friday in reaction to the verdict:
“The Ancient Order of Hibernians is saddened but not surprised at yesterday’s acquittal of British Trooper F, which means that no one will be found guilty for the murders of 14 civil rights marchers committed in front of thousands of eyewitnesses and many cameramen on January 30th, 1972.
"The verdict was the inevitable result of high-level planning by British officials and military commanders, who always intended to ensure impunity for those they sent out to teach Derry a lesson by gunning down civil rights marchers.
"Indeed, British officials merely followed the same tactics they had used to get away with the murder of a Catholic priest, a grandmother, and eight others, in the Ballymurphy Massacre of August 9-11, 1971.
“Judge Patrick Lynch was scathing in his verdict, holding the Bloody Sunday troopers were clearly guilty of ‘Shooting in the back unarmed civilians fleeing from them… Those responsible should hang their heads in shame.’
“It was noteworthy that former British troopers outside the courtroom, instead of shame, displayed annoyance that Soldier F or any British trooper should ever face prosecution merely for murdering Irish civil rights marchers.
“The judge felt constrained to acquit only because there was no reliable evidence identifying Trooper F as the shooter who murdered two men and attempted to murder five others. The only identification evidence introduced came from out-of-court statements by two other Troopers, who themselves had been part of the murder spree.
“The whitewash of Bloody Sunday started even before the blood in the streets was dry. Troopers were questioned only to make up excuses justifying each murder. Cover stories about nail bombs and shots fired by the victims were concocted. No inculpatory forensic evidence was taken.
"The Widgery Tribunal was held to rubber-stamp the murders. Commander Derek Wilford was honored with an Order of the British Empire.
“None of this was enough to stop the heroic family and friends of the Bloody Sunday victims. They marched, lobbied, and campaigned for justice, supported by the AOH among many others. It took decades, but they got vindication at the Saville Inquiry and an apology from British Prime Minister David Cameron.
"Ultimately, they got one of the troopers into the dock, charged with murder, although the 53-year cover-up blocked sufficient identification evidence for a conviction.
“The AOH has had a longstanding relationship with the Bloody Sunday families. We congratulate them for having endured all British efforts to deny them justice and delay until they had given up their quest for the truth. These families never gave up. They have overcome every obstacle.
“As we have for decades, the AOH will support the Bloody Sunday families as they take the next steps in their fight for justice, and we will stand with all victims’ relatives as they continue their fight for legacy truth.”
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