Michael Stone (extremist)
Michael Stone (born April 2, 1955 in Birmingham ) is a convicted militant extremist of the Protestant majority in Northern Ireland .
Milltown
In 1988 he carried out an attack on mourners at Milltown Catholic Cemetery in Belfast. Members of underground republican groups such as the IRA or the INLA were often buried in this cemetery. On March 16, 1988, three IRA activists who had been shot by the British special forces unit SAS in Gibraltar were buried . Stone threw hand grenades at cemetery visitors and fired a pistol, killing three people and injuring sixty others. Officials of the Royal Ulster Constabularyarrested him and stopped the angry crowd from lynching him in place. There are film recordings of the crime that made the attack even more popular.
Detention
During his trial, Stone admitted shooting three other Catholics and was sentenced to life imprisonment for multiple murders. He served his sentence in Maze Prison , where many other offenders from militant Protestant groups were already imprisoned. Stone later rose there to a leader of the Ulster Freedom Fighters . As such, he negotiated with Mo Mowlam about loyalist support for the Good Friday Agreement . In the course of the implementation of the agreement, he was released early in 2000.
Stormont
On November 24, 2006, Michael Stone entered Stormont Castle , Belfast. He was armed with a pistol, knife and a working bomb. With this violent action, he protested against the participation of members of the Republican Sinn Féin party in the newly constituted local government in Northern Ireland. Stone was overwhelmed by parliamentary security officials in the entrance area. After his arrest, charges were brought against him, including attempted murder and illicit possession of firearms and explosives. Stone himself tried to belittle his actions in retrospect as mere performance art . The Belfast Crown Court in charge of the case, however, did not follow this account and found him guilty on all counts on November 14, 2008 and sentenced him to 16 years in prison.
Web links
- BBC: Stone held over Stormont attack (English)
- BBC: Loyalist killer Michael Stone freed from Maze (English)
- n-tv: Belfast Parliament evacuated
Individual evidence
- ^ A thing of the past by Owen Bowcott, guardian.co.uk, November 24, 2006, accessed May 29, 2008
- ↑ Stone convicted of SF murder bids , BBC, November 14, 2008
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Stone, Michael |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | British, militant and Protestant extremist (loyalist) |
| DATE OF BIRTH | April 2, 1955 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Birmingham |