LONDON — Hundreds of people in Ireland are calling for justice after the death of a Congolese man who was restrained by security guards outside a Dublin department store.
Activists said disturbing video of Yves Sakila in distress as he was pinned to the sidewalk was reminiscent of the killing of George Floyd by police officers in Minneapolis in 2020.
Sakila, 35, had been chased and detained May 15 by several security guards who suspected him of shoplifting at Arnotts, Ireland’s oldest and largest department store, in the heart of Dublin. He was unresponsive when police arrived and was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
“Yves Sakila was a man who did not deserve to die,” Suzie Tansia, of the Congolese Community Ireland, said at a demonstration Thursday outside government buildings. “He was a human being, like you and I. He was somebody’s son, and that could have been any one of us.”
Police have not released the cause of death, citing operational reasons.
Attorney John Gerard Cullen, who represents Sakila’s family, said he died over the alleged theft of a bottle of perfume. Sakila had been homeless and struggled with drug issues, Cullen said.
Police have asked for witnesses to come forward.
