Police arrest two for murder of Northern Irish journalist, suspect republican dissident links

Northern Irish police officer. — (Image credit: Charles McQuillan/Getty Images)

Police arrested two men in connection with the murder of journalist Lyra McKee in Derry, Northern Ireland, on Saturday.

McKee, 29, was shot and killed in Derry on Thursday as she watched Irish nationalist youths clash with police during a riot. Police reportedly said McKee was not the gunman's intended target, but was hit by a bullet fired in the direction of the police officers.

Police described the shooting as a "terrorist incident." The Irish News reports that the police believe the suspects in the murder are linked to the dissident republican group the New Irish Republican Army, an offshoot of the Irish Republican Army which remains opposed to the 1998 Good Friday Agreement and the fragile ceasefire in Northern Ireland. McKee's murder follows the explosion of a large car bomb in Derry in January, which was also blamed on the New IRA.

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There are fears that militant groups are trying to exploit political tensions caused by the United Kingdom's decision to leave the European Union, Reuters reports.

Northern Ireland's political leaders — nationalists and unionists alike — urged for calm following the violence.

A vigil was held for McKee in Derry.

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Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.