A man in white robes and a ceremonial mask performed what he described as a voodoo ritual outside Arnotts department store on Dublin’s Henry Street, cursing the shop and threatening death to those who enter it — as protests over the death of a Congolese man during a shoplifting detention escalate into increasingly confrontational scenes.
The approximately 52-second clip, posted to X on 24 May and widely shared online, shows the man waving a wooden stick and a broom-like tool with yellow bristles, making chalk marks including crosses on the pavement near the store entrance. Speaking directly to bystanders, he declared “This is voodoo from Africa” and warned “Every people who come to the shop… they die,” while shoppers walked past. The footage has drawn significant attention and condemnation across Irish social media.
The ritual is the latest escalation in protests that began following the death of Yves Sakila, 35, on 15 May. Sakila, a Congolese national who had lived in Ireland since 2004, became unresponsive after being restrained on the ground outside Arnotts by security guards for approximately five minutes following an alleged shoplifting incident. A man in his 80s was also injured as Sakila attempted to flee the scene before being detained. He was taken to the Mater Hospital where he was later pronounced dead. The Irish Network Against Racism described video of the incident, which shows Sakila being held motionless on the ground, as “very disturbing.”
Sakila, who had been homeless for several years and was living at the Salvation Army’s Granby Centre in Dublin, had a history of criminal convictions. He was most recently convicted of shoplifting at Dublin District Court in January 2026 and fined €110 for stealing perfume worth €106 from the same Arnott’s store. In 2018 he was sentenced to just over a year after being convicted of robbery and had spent further time in custody since, including three months the previous year for theft offences.
Two investigations are now underway — one led by the Serious Crime Unit at Store Street Garda Station, with a Senior Investigative Officer appointed to lead the inquiry, and a parallel investigation by Fiosrú, the policing ombudsman. A post-mortem examination has so far been inconclusive on the precise cause of death. Sakila’s family solicitor, John Gerard Cullen, said the family had still not been informed of the cause of death and described the apparent use of force as difficult to justify as “proportionate or necessary.”
Arnotts said it was “deeply saddened” by Sakila’s death and stated that “no loss of life should ever be the outcome of a retail security incident.” The retailer said it was cooperating fully with the garda investigation and conducting a full internal review with the independently contracted security firm involved.
Protests have included vigils, blocked entrances, flowers and calls for a boycott. The voodoo ritual has added a deeply controversial dimension to the demonstrations. Gardaí had not intervened to stop the ritual at the time of the footage being shared, prompting questions from some onlookers about whether it constituted intimidation or a breach of the peace.
Some within Dublin’s Congolese community have compared Sakila’s death to that of George Floyd, the Black American man killed by a Minneapolis police officer in 2020. “I can’t believe it happened in America in 2020 and happened in Ireland in 2026,” said one former classmate of Sakila’s. Protesters have called for a transparent investigation, racial training for all gardaí, and legislation against excessive force in civilian detention.
