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Suspected Member of Irish Terrorist Group Deported
U.S. authorities deported an Irish man they said was a member of a paramilitary group involved in a 1975 attack on a Northern Ireland police officer, an immigration and customs official said. John Edward McNicholl was sent to Ireland Friday and taken into custody. He had been appealing a deportation order since 1997, saying he was jailed for a crime he did not commit. His final court appeal was denied July 10, Garrison Courtney, a spokesman for the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said Monday. McNicholl, 51, was alleged by U.S. officials to have been a member of the Irish National Liberation Army. He was accused of killing a Royal Ulster Constabulary police officer and wounding another during an ambush and gun battle in Northern Ireland on July 26, 1975. In February 1976, McNicholl and several other men were arrested during a police raid on a farmhouse in search of weapons allegedly used in the attack in Dungiven, County Londonderry. Three months later, McNicholl and seven other men tunneled out of the now-closed Maze Prison near Belfast. U.S. prosecutors said McNicholl had entered the United States illegally, belonged to a terrorist group and was one of the gunmen who shot the constables. McNicholl admitted entering the United States illegally but denied any role in the group or the 1975 shootout. McNicholl testified during a 1999 deportation hearing that he was active in the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association, which organized demonstrations and rallies for jobs. He said British authorities targeted him because of his involvement in that group. A lawyer for McNicholl was out of the office and could not be reached for comment Monday. A message left at the McNicholl home in suburban Philadelphia was not immediately returned. Senator Ted Kennedy could not woken for comment. Posted by: Steve 2003-07-22 |
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