Former Sergeant-at-Arms Kevin Vickers, the man credited with stopping a gunman in a firefight on Parliament Hill in 2014, can be seen in photos tackling a protester during a ceremony honouring British soldiers in Dublin, Ireland.
According to the Irish Independent, Vickers was the first to jump into action when a protester interrupted an event at Grangegorman Military Cemetery Thursday morning to commemorate the British soldiers who died in 1916.
A male protester stood up and yelled “this is an insult” before Vickers, who is the Canadian Ambassador to Ireland, physically restrained the man before police could intervene.
In video captured by RTE News, Vickers can be seen grabbing the protester and dragging him away from the ceremony where he is later handcuffed by Dublin police.
READ MORE: Parliament shooting hero Kevin Vickers appointed ambassador to Ireland
“During a ceremony to remember British soldiers who died during the Easter Rising in 1916, Ambassador Kevin Vickers intercepted a protester who ran up to the podium,” Global Affairs Canada said in a statement. “Moments later, security officers arrested the protester”
He was not injured during the incident, Global Affairs confirmed.
According to the department’s code of conduct for diplomatic staff abroad, representatives should be aware that any “adverse perception of their actions may have an effect on Canada’s reputation.”
“Regardless of any legal immunity conferred upon representatives abroad, their conduct and actions will be subject to a greater degree of scrutiny and public interest than they would be at home,” the document says.
“The potential for public scrutiny requires that representatives use good judgment and common sense.”
Vickers, the House of Commons Sergeant-at-Arms at the time, was credited with firing the shots that killed gunman Michael Zehaf-Bibeau, who had killed 24-year-old Cpl. Nathan Cirillo at the National War Memorial before storming the Centre Block of Parliament in Ottawa on Oct. 22. 2014
READ MORE: ‘Nathan is part of me:’ Man who helped Cpl. Cirillo before he died remembers Ottawa shooting
He was later appointed as Canada’s ambassador to Ireland.
The ceremony honoured the 125 British soldiers who died in the Easter Rising in 1916, an armed rebellion by Irish republicans seeking to end British rule and establish an independent Ireland.
Vickers was representing Canada at the ceremony as a guest of the Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Charles Flanagan.
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