RTÉ HAS SAID it is “in ongoing contact” with gardaí over the safety of its staff, as a video has emerged of a crowd of people confronting one of the national broadcaster’s camera operators and other members of the media.
The video footage, which was shared on social media yesterday evening, initially shows one man pushing past a television camera and some news photographers outside the Four Courts in Dublin’s city centre.
The man can first be seen shouting at one photographer in particular, but he then goes on to knock an RTÉ camera operator’s phone out of his hand, pushing the camera tripod a number of times.
Later footage in the same video shows a crowd gathered around photographers and the RTÉ camera operator. They can be heard shouting “RTÉ genocide” and repeatedly chanting “fake news RTÉ”.
One man shouts “you’re filth, you should be hung from that f***ing lamp post”. He also calls them “scum” and warns them “we’re coming after every f***ing one of yous”.
One woman in the crowd references the Covid-19 vaccine, describing it as a “bio-weapon” and questioning why this was not being reported on the news.
The RTÉ camera operator, along with another camera operator from a different news organisation, can later be seen walking away from the scene with the crowd following them down the street.
An RTÉ technology engineer shared some of the footage today, condemning the incident.
“They are not political, they are there to capture events on video and move on to the next story. This is disgusting,” he said.
In a statement to The Journal, RTÉ said it “takes the matter very seriously”. The national broadcaster said it is “in ongoing contact with the gardaí” regarding the safety of its journalists and other staff.
An Garda Síochána has also been contacted for comment.
RTÉ and its staff have been regularly targeted by anti-vaccine and far-right protesters in recent years. A number of demonstrations have been held outside their campus and some of the broadcaster’s presenters have also been targeted by conspiracy theorists and other groups over the years.
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