Planned “vindictive assertion” against George Nkencho? Claims circulating online about George were found to be false

DUBLIN: Is it because of vested interests that the social media campaign is insulting the mentally ill George Nkencho who was shot dead by the Garda in his backyard in West Dublin? But there are indications that it is more likely to be so.

The 27-year-old was shot dead by members of the Blanchardstown Garda Armed Support Unit in Clonee, West Dublin, on December 30. He was hospitalized with injuries but died shortly afterwards. Soon after the news of his death broke, fake propaganda began to circulate on Twitter, Facebook, Telegram and WhatsApp, along with a picture of George. It is now clear that even prominent journalists wrote news against George based on what others said.

George has 32 convictions. He is out on bail after attacking his girlfriend with a hammer. The fake propaganda also claims George attacked a shop worker with a knife prior to his death. However, the first two of these allegations were found to be utterly false. The third incident proved to be misleading.

It was also proved that he was out on bail in the case of trying to kill his girlfriend at the time of the murder. Posts against him were widely circulated on social media. An investigation by the social media search engine tool CrowdTangle found that since December 30, the fake campaign has been shared by at least 2,400 accounts. Investigations by a few media outlets have shown that these are completely baseless propaganda.

An Garda Síochána has no information to substantiate this misinformation. Top sources close to the Justice Department have also secretly confirmed that there is no evidence of a campaign against George. It was only confirmed that he was arrested in January last year. But this matter was dealt with under the provisions of the Mental Health Act. Hence it did not result in a criminal conviction.

The family of George Nkencho is preparing to take legal action against the fake propaganda. The family is cooperating with the Garda Siochána Ombudsman Commission investigation to bring out the truth.