So were the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association terrorists, provoking them, when on 5 October 1968 RUC officers surrounded marchers and beat them indiscriminately and without provocation, injuring over 100 people?
4th January 1969, 4 January - A People's Democracy march between Belfast and Derry was repeatedly attacked by loyalists. At Burntollet it was ambushed by 200 loyalists and off-duty police (RUC) officers armed with iron bars, bricks and bottles. The marchers claimed that police did little to protect them. When the march arrived in Derry it was broken up by the RUC. That night, RUC officers went on a rampage in the Bogside area of Derry; attacking Catholic homes, attacking and threatening residents, and hurling sectarian abuse. Who were the terrorists provoking the RUC there?
19 April 1969 - During clashes with civil rights marchers in Derry, RUC officers entered the house of an uninvolved Catholic civilian, Samuel Devenny, and beat him, along with two of his daughters. One of the daughters was beaten unconscious as she lay recovering from surgery. Devenny suffered a heart attack and died on 17 July from his injuries. Who were the terrorists provoking the RUC there?
13 July 1969 During clashes with nationalists throwing stones at an Orange Hall in Dungiven, RUC officers beat Francis McCloskey, a Catholic civilian (aged 67). He died of his injuries the next day. What terrorist provocation did he engage in, which justified the forces of law and order beating him to death?
All this happened before the Provisional IRA existed.
14th August 1969, the British army was deployed to N.I. It would be another 3 months before the Provisional IRA came into being.