CELEBRITIES ACROSS Ireland are putting their social media stardom to good use to try and track down the group of vicious young men who were filmed shoving a woman into a Dublin canal.
Xuedan (Shelly) Xiong, from Castleknock, was being pushed into the Royal Canal while walking near Ashtown in Dublin this past Friday.
Disturbing footage of the incident soon found its way onto social media, sparking widespread condemnation.
In the clip, which was first posted on TikTok before being removed, Xiong can be seen pleading with the youths to leave her in peace.
Seconds later, one of the boys suddenly pushes her into the nearby canal.
Speaking to the Irish Times, Xiong described her awful ordeal at the hands of the young thugs.
“I screamed and they laughed and then imitated my scream. They left me terrified,” she said.
She also detailed how the boys directed racist slurs like "Chinese noodles" and "fried noodles" at her.
“One of them looked me straight in the eyes and said ‘coronavirus’. I didn’t say anything, I was stunned and they winked at each other,” she added.
The fuck is this shit? Who are these lads ?
Please let’s find the scum who did this. https://t.co/iviSBnsncS— Gavin James (@gavinjames) August 15, 2020
In a worrying twist, Xiong revealed how Gardai officers told her it was unlikely that the boys would be brought to justice for their actions.
Now several celebrities have stepped forward to take action.
Singers Gavin James and Brian Kennedy have taken to social media calling for the boys to be named and shamed.
Kennedy blasted the youths: “You cowardly subhumans. Find them. Expose them. Punish them. EDUCATE THEM!! This is Not My Ireland.”
As Imelda says. YOU DONT GET TO BE IRISH AND RACIST. Brave bunch of lads surrounding a girl on her own ??? You cowardly subhumans. Find them. Expose them. Punish them. EDUCATE THEM!! This is Not My Ireland. https://t.co/dCZ6HLC9rY
— Dr BRIAN KENNEDY (@KennedySinger) August 16, 2020
Those sentiments were previously echoed by James who wrote: “Please let’s find the scum who did this.”
Former RTE Dragons’ Den panellist and businessman Gavin Duffy also slammed the reaction of Irish police.
“Decent people shocked by the racist assault on Shirley Xuedan Xiong - shoved into the canal,” he wrote.
“When Shirley reported it to An Garda Síochana she says “gardaí told me it was unlikely the teenagers involved would be found”. To curb racism we first need Gardaí to take it seriously.”
Decent people shocked by the racist assault on Shirley Xuedan Xiong - shoved into the canal. When Shirley reported it to An Garda Síochana she says “gardaí told me it was unlikely the teenagers involved would be found”. To curb racism we first need Gardaí to take it seriously. pic.twitter.com/BsfG51nzgw
— Gavin Duffy (@GavinDuffy) August 16, 2020
Dublin’s Lord Mayor, Hazel Chu, has already a message of support on Twitter, alongside a promise to help bring the boys to justice.
“My heart goes out to the assaulted woman Shirley Xuedan Xiong. Make no mistake this was an assault,” she wrote.
“I'll be contacting Garda Commissioner this week on the Community Garda Program. This is far from the first assault case on the canal stretches. Let's work to making it the last.”
My heart goes out to the assaulted woman Shirley Xuedan Xiong. Make no mistake this was an assault.
I'll be contacting Garda Commissioner this week on the Community Garda Program. This is far from the first assault case on the canal stretches. Let's work to making it the last. https://t.co/XWehNaN40S— Hazel Chu (@hazechu) August 15, 2020
At the time of writing no formal arrests have yet been made.
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