Jim Allister said:
“ACC Todd has dodged the key questions in relation to what happened on Saturday.
“He deems support for our lawful armed forces “provocative”, but presides over ‘No Go’ policing when republicans parade in Londonderry wearing masks! Why is it that the PSNI is so ready to turn a blind eye to paramilitary displays at Republican parades, but so exercised to throw the book at the soft target of a band from Larne?
“He claims that “there are places where space, history and symbols are contentious”. If that is the standard to which the PSNI are operating why was there no evidence of a police presence in Strabane when Sinn Fein held a parade to celebrate IRA terrorists? Martina Anderson screamed a Provo slogan yards from where 5-month-old Alan Jack, the youngest victim of the terror campaign, was murdered by the IRA. This caused huge offence to all right thinking people. Is she being investigated for her “provocative conduct”?
“These are the obvious questions which arise from the overbearing actions of the PSNI on Saturday. The simple fact of the matter is that the PSNI created this “problem” and need to stop digging.”