MP 'stood with the community' says DUP leader after Lockhart comes under fire

It was "entirely appropriate" for Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) politicians to be at a counter-demonstration against a Palestine solidarity walk, the party leader has said.

Gavin Robinson praised MP Carla Lockhart after she was pictured at a protest standing beside masked men. He also accused the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) of "blocking the ability of people to peacefully protest".

Lockhart has rejected criticism after the pictures emerged on social media, saying she and 10 other politicians were there " to de-escalate" a "very volatile situation".

It comes after Sinn Féin MP Chris Hazzard, who is the MP for the area, said Lockhart acted as a "political shield for thugs".

The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) said: "An appropriate and proportionate policing operation was implemented to maintain public safety during a notified parade and protest."

The organisers of Saturday's march said it was "peaceful, dignified and disciplined throughout".

The Great March for Gaza was organised by Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign.

About 1,500 pro-Palestine marchers walked along a canal towpath from Lurgan to Newry on Saturday morning.

Organisers said a counter-protest in Scarva, County Down, was "racist, xenophobic, sectarian".

"Our march was blocked and delayed for over 45 minutes while counter protesters shouted abuse at participants," a statement said.

Organisers said marchers were also "forced to proceed through slurry spread on the road, creating an unnecessary hazard and a degrading experience for peaceful participants".

They said that it is "regrettable that some political representatives appear more interested in manufacturing a narrative of victimhood than acknowledging the conduct witnessed on the ground".

Speaking to the media on Monday, Robinson accused the PSNI of "frustrating" the decision of the Parades Commission and said his colleagues had ensured a "difficult situation didn't spiral out of control".

He criticised "pearl clutching and hypocrisy from people who should know better".

Addressing concerns that journalists had been subject to intimidation he said he condemned "violence and intimidation" and said no-one should be "masked up".

Séamus Dooley, assistant general secretary of the National Union of Journalists (NUJ), said the union was "concerned to learn of intimidatory behaviour towards members of the media" covering the protest in Scarva.

"This was a significant public event and journalists have a right to report without intimidation."

Robinson hit out at online comments directed at Lockhart.

"She stood with the community of Scarva," he said.

Earlier, Hazzard told BBC Radio Ulster's Good Morning Ulster programme that what happened in Scarva, which is in his constituency of South Down, was "completely unacceptable".

"While families were taking part in a peaceful walk to raise awareness for humanitarian aid for dying children in Gaza an MP was front and centre of a hostile, masked mob whose sole aim was intimidation," Hazzard said.

"Carla's claim that she was there to deescalate is frankly pathetic," he said.

"Images clearly show Carla standing not near, but shoulder to shoulder with masked men acting as a political shield for thugs who were chanting vile sectarian and racist abuse," Hazzard added.

"Carla didn't calm tensions, she emboldened them and is dragging us back to a past that we have left behind."

Speaking on the same programme, Lockhart said that when she arrived in Scarva on Saturday "the police had blocked bridge, which was a designated area for the protest to take place".

"That immediately made a bad situation worse," Lockhart said.

"Protesters made their way to an area which was an unfinished development. The PSNI came in very heavy," she said.

"I, along with my colleagues, had to intervene, had to de-escalate, had to negotiate with police, encourage the community and were able to keep what could have been an absolute bloodbath very quiet, peaceful and ultimately no incidents out of Saturday's occasion."

When questioned on the allegation that she was front and centre of the masked men, Lockhart said it was "utter, utter rubbish".

DUP MLA Diane Forsythe was also at the counter-protest.

She told BBC Radio Ulster's Talkback programme the situation "could have been avoided".

"The Parades Commission made a bad decision, the police did not handle this well, but I stand firmly with my colleagues," Forsythe said.

"I am very clear in what I say, we did our best on the ground and those that set out to vilify us for managing the relations on the ground and representing our people, we have nothing to be ashamed of."

Hazzard told Good Morning Ulster that there were "plenty of people" in Scarva, including photographers and people videoing.

"People can see very, very clearly the actions of Carla on the day," Hazzard said.

"A public representative not near but in the midst, front and centre, of masked men, 2026, of masked men standing on the side of a towpath, intimidating shouting vile sectarian racist abuse at families who were walking to raise awareness of genocide and to raise funds for children who are dying in Gaza," he said.

Hazzard said there is "no place for masked men, paramilitary style face coverings in broad daylight".

Eoin Tennyson, deputy leader of Alliance and MLA for Upper Bann, told Talkback that the job of elected representatives "is to show leadership and that includes challenging your own supporters on occasion when they engage in intimidation and bullying".

"We should all be capable of being consistent in calling out masked men who are hurling abuse, whatever section of the community that comes from."

Lockhart said she does not "want to see anyone with their face covered, whether it be on the parade or protesters".

"But what I was dealing with was a number of protesters in a building site with lots of debris, lots of things there that could have potentially escalated," she said.

"I worked with the PSNI and the community. I told the PSNI I would stand with the protestors to ensure peaceful and that nothing would happen on the side of the protesters and that's exactly what happened."

The Parades Commission gave permission for the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign march with conditions, as well as the counter protest.

"The investigation of suspected criminal offences resulting from alleged breaches of the Commission's determinations is a matter for the Police Service of Northern Ireland," the Commission said in a statement.

"In accordance with its usual practice, the Commission will consider all of the information available to it and take account of it in the event of any future notifications of similar events being made to it."