A Dublin councillor has described a man who intervened to protect a woman against violence as “a hero.”
Independent Councillor Gavin Pepper interviewed Andy Murray, after the footage was posted online, racking up almost two million views.
The man who intervened has since been named as Andy Murray, who told Cllr Pepper that he used Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu to intervene and pull the man away from the female in the video.
Mr Murray said he saw a “young girl backed into a corner” with the man attacking her and the situation “escalating.”
He said he pulled up, angled his lights at the man and woman, and then put his phone on the dash to start recording the incident. He got out of the car to approach the pair after he saw the man “beat” the woman, he said.
“I ran over and I said, ‘I have to take him down,’” Mr Murray said, explaining how he used his ju jitsu skills to do so. Mr Murray said he shouted to the woman to run to safety, and he himself realised he had to get out of the situation.
Murray said he took the man’s arms “out of the equation” first, before flipping him over. “I held him for about 20 seconds,” Murray added, saying that while this was happening, he shouted to the woman, “Go, run to safety.”
“I knew I had to get away too. The first rule of self-defence is to get out of the situation – run away,” he said.
“I was aware I needed to protect myself,” Murray said regarding his decision to film the incident.
He said the woman was “very distraught” in the aftermath of the incident and he brought her somewhere nearby to calm down. He told Cllr Pepper that they did not go to the Gardaí and that the woman was in a hurry to get a bus to Limerick. Cllr Pepper, in the video interview, encouraged the woman to make a report to the Gardaí.
Mr Murray also said he checked multiple times to make sure the man was breathing.
“This man is a hero,” Cllr Pepper said, with Murray encouraging people to avail of self-defence classes. “We need more people like Andy in this country,” he said.
John Kavanagh, who coaches MMA Champion Conor McGregor, first shared the video online – revealing that Murray is also a student of his.
Mr Kavanagh explained that Murray has set up his phone in order to capture the video to protect himself, as he praised Murray for rescuing the female in the video.
“As soon as he came across the situation he knew physically his MMA and BJJ training he’s being doing for years would make the situation manageable but he had the presence of mind to set up phone to capture video to protect himself. Sadly that is how we must all think now before stepping in,” Kavanagh wrote.
“Even with this video he has concerns however I think his only concern should be where he’s going to pin all his hero medals.
Thank you Andy Murray for being a brave hero and showing all that is good about @SBG_Ireland where we make good men and women dangerous for bad people,” coach Kavanagh added.