Relatives carry 14 white crosses for the victims murdered as a result of shots fired by British Paratroopers on Bloody Sunday 1972 at rally last year
But the move by Saoradh has outraged a local DUP MLA who says the people of Derry should unite against the dissident republican group.
The group’s Facebook post confirmed they would be attending the event and called on people to “join with us as we stand with those who continue to fight British imperialism in occupied Ireland”.
A post last week by the group’s leader and convicted terrorist Thomas Ashe Mellon boasted that the event will be “the first public march our band will be performing in” and claimed that they have ambitions to grow.
Ashe Mellon is believed by police to be a senior member of the New IRA in Derry.
The terror group shot dead journalist Lyra McKee on Thursday, April 18, 2019 while she was observing a riot in Creggan.
In the wake her brutal murder, dissident republicans were forced to cancel an Easter Monday parade in Creggan over the public outcry at her senseless death.
DUP Foyle MLA Gary Middleton said it was not just a year since Ms McKee was murdered by dissidents on the streets of Derry.
“Having weathered the public outrage, those who seek to defend dissident terrorism appear determined to re-emerge and indoctrinate a new generation,” said Mr Middleton.
“It is vital that everyone across the city stands united against those who want to bring violence onto our streets and we all make it clear there never can be any place or justification for the use of violence and terror to further a political cause.”
Friends of murdered Lyra McKee put red hands on Saoradh offices in Derry on Easter Monday. 2019.Watching on is convicted terrorist Thomas Ashe Mellon (bearded)
The Bloody Sunday rally will take place this Sunday, February 2, at 2.30 pm.
It is just one of a number of events being held throughout this week by the relatives of Bloody Sunday victims.
The rally addressed by Stephen Travers, a survivor of the 1975 Miami Showband massacre.
A total of 14 unarmed civilians were murdered by British soldiers in Derry’s Bogside area on Bloody Sunday, January 30, 1972.
A British soldier, Soldier F, has been charged with the murders of James Wray and William McKinney and five counts of attempted murdered over Bloody Sunday.
A court in Derry heard earlier this month that Soldier F’s committal hearing may have to be moved to Belfast to accommodate the case.
A district judge said that this was because Court 4 in Bishop Street Courthouse had its limitations in terms of its accommodation and acoustics.
He also said that security considerations also had to be taken into consideration.
But families rejected this, saying the case should be heard in Derry in the courthouse not far from where the murders and attempted murders took place 48 years ago.
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