Editing Loyalist Volunteer Force (section)

===1997===
* '''3 January''': three men (James Buchanan, Jonathan Birney and Andrew Doran) accused of drug dealing by the [[Ulster Defence Association|UDA]] were [[kneecapped]] by members of the LVF. This was apparently an effort to punish them but prevent them being killed by other loyalist paramilitaries.<ref name="ReferenceA">[https://www.judiciaryni.uk/files/judiciaryni/decisions/R%20v%20Fulton%20and%20Another.pdf Judgment: The Queen v William James Fulton and Muriel Gibson]</ref>
* '''6 January''': The LVF shot and injured a man in the Glandore Terrace estate, Portadown. [[Ulster Defence Association|UDA]] member Derek Wray had been the original intended target.<ref name="judiciaryni.uk"/>
* '''20 January''': the LVF was believed to be behind a bomb that exploded under a van owned by a Catholic in [[Larne]], County Antrim.<ref name="cainchron97">[http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/othelem/chron/ch97.htm A Chronology of the Conflict: 1997] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080228024109/http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/othelem/chron/ch97.htm |date=28 February 2008 }} - ''[[Conflict Archive on the Internet]]''</ref>
* '''8 March''': the LVF carried out firebomb attacks on [[Northern Ireland Tourist Board]] (NITB) offices in [[Banbridge]] and [[Newcastle, County Down]]. The attacks were believed to be a response to the NITB's marketing of the whole of [[Ireland]] as a tourist destination together with [[Bord Fáilte]] (the tourist board of the [[Republic of Ireland]]).<ref name="cainchron97"/>
*'''1 April''': Mountpottinger Baptist Tabernacle, a Protestant church in East Belfast, was damaged in an arson attack. Although DUP press officer [[Sammy Wilson (politician)|Sammy Wilson]] blamed Catholics, on 20 April [[Progressive Unionist Party]] leader [[David Ervine]] asserted it was an LVF attempt to raise sectarian tension.<ref name="cainchron97"/>
* '''27 April''': [[Killing of Robert Hamill|Robert Hamill]] (25), a Catholic civilian, was kicked to death by a loyalist mob in Portadown town centre while walking home. Police parked nearby did not intervene. The six men charged with his murder were placed in the LVF wing of the Maze Prison at their own request.<ref>{{cite news |title=Did he have to die? |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/1999/feb/21/theobserver.uknews7 |work=[[The Observer]] |date=21 February 1999}}</ref>
* '''12 May''': the LVF kidnapped Catholic civilian Seán Brown (61) after he left the [[Gaelic Athletic Association]] (GAA) club in [[Bellaghy]], County Londonderry. He was beaten and shot dead; his body was found the next day by a burnt-out car on Moneynick Road near [[Randalstown]].<ref name="cainchron97"/>
* '''14 May''': the LVF was alleged to have tried to kill a Catholic taxi driver in [[Milford, County Armagh]]. He escaped when the gunman's weapon jammed.<ref name="cainchron97"/>
* '''24 May''': the LVF claimed responsibility for planting a bomb in [[Dundalk]], [[County Louth]], Republic of Ireland. The time bomb was planted in an alleyway on Clanbrassil Street, the town's main shopping street. However, after it partially exploded, it was defused by [[Gardaí]] (the Republic's police). The LVF warned that further "no-warning bomb attacks" would take place "as long as Dublin interferes in Ulster affairs".<ref name="cainchron97"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.anphoblacht.com/news/detail/28464|title=News - An Phoblacht|access-date=30 January 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304112113/http://www.anphoblacht.com/news/detail/28464|archive-date=4 March 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* '''2 July''': the LVF threatened to kill Catholic civilians if an upcoming Orange march was banned from the Garvaghy Road in Portadown.<ref name="cainchron97"/>
* '''15 July''': the LVF killed Catholic civilian Bernadette Martin (18) in [[Aghalee]]. She was shot four times in the head as she slept in her Protestant boyfriend's home.<ref name="cainchron97"/>
* '''24 July''': the LVF kidnapped Catholic civilian James Morgan (16) in Newcastle, County Down. He was tortured, beaten to death with a hammer, and his body was doused in petrol and set alight. His burnt and mutilated body was found three days later in a waterlogged ditch used for the disposal of animal carcasses near [[Clough]]. Norman Coopey was charged and convicted of the killing.<ref name="cainchron97"/><ref>[http://www.anphoblacht.com/news/detail/28815 UVF link to brutal murder] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120329050434/http://www.anphoblacht.com/news/detail/28815 |date=29 March 2012 }} ''An Phoblacht,'' 31 July 1997</ref>
* '''5 August''': the LVF claimed responsibility for trying to kill a Catholic taxi driver in [[Lurgan]]. He escaped when the gun jammed.<ref name="cainchron97"/>
* '''12 August''': twenty-seven LVF prisoners in the [[Maze Prison]] began a riot which caused severe damage to C and D wings of H-Block 6.<ref name="cainchron97"/>
* '''13-14 August''': the LVF was blamed for attacks on the homes of four serving and former prison officers in Mid-Ulster.<ref name="cainchron97"/><ref name="judiciaryni.uk"/>
* '''17 November''': the LVF claimed responsibility for planting four small bombs in Dundalk, Republic of Ireland, which were removed by police.<ref name="cainchron97"/>
* '''5 December''': the LVF shot dead Catholic civilian Gerry Devlin (36) outside a GAA club in [[Glengormley]], County Antrim.<ref name="cainchron97"/>
* '''27 December''': the LVF launched a gun attack on the dance hall of the Catholic-owned Glengannon Hotel near [[Dungannon]], County Tyrone. Hundreds of teenagers were attending a disco inside when gunmen fired on a crowd of people at the entrance. A doorman, Catholic civilian Seamus Dillon (45), was killed and three other people were wounded. This was believed to be revenge for the killing of Billy Wright in HM Maze prison earlier that day.<ref name="cainchron97"/> The LVF said: "This attack and future attacks lay squarely at the feet of republicans. For too long the Protestant people have watched their very faith, culture and identity being slowly eroded away".<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/mowlam-calls-for-calm-as-ulster-looks-into-the-abyss-1291003.html | location=London | work=The Independent | first=David | last=McKittrick | title=Mowlam calls for calm as Ulster looks into the abyss | date=29 December 1997}}</ref>
* '''31 December''': the LVF claimed responsibility for a gun attack on the Clifton Tavern on Cliftonville Road, Belfast. Gunmen burst into the pub and sprayed it with gunfire. Catholic civilian Eddie Treanor (31) was killed and five others were wounded. The RUC believed that UDA members were involved.<ref name="cainchron97"/>