Gardaí investigating number of online threats to kill and cause serious harm to persons

Three men have been arrested.

Gardaí in Athlone are investigating a number of threats to kill and cause serious harm to persons made on social media over the past few days. Earlier this morning - Thursday, 21 November - Gardaí in Athlone conducted a number of planned searches in the area. An Garda Síochána were searching for the weapons which were displayed in these videos. They were also looking for the media devices which were used in the commission of these crimes. A number of electronic devices and weapons were seized during the searches that were conducted by Athlone Garda and the Regional Support Unit. During the course of these searches, three males from the Athlone area were arrested. One male is in his late 40s and the other two males are in their 20s. These men are currently being detained at Mullingar and Athlone Garda Stations. They're being detained under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act 1984. Gardaí are liaising with the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) in relation to the persons arrested and the social media videos because they may be connected to a recent serious incident in Fermanagh. The incident in Fermangah is under investigation by the PSNI.