However, at 10pm the Police made their decision to use force to disperse everyone.
There was an excellent turnout, and the protest walk went around the centre with little hassle from police. As a result of this, at the third demo on Friday 26th- which started on College Green and culminated in the bear pit being shut down by protesters, and another sit-down protest outside of Bridewell Police Station- most protesters knew they could not put a foot out of line and the day went well. My own personal speculation is that most people at this point, even the most naïve people who had been attending, with the most faith in the police and the media, started to realise that the media and police narratives of the last two protests were severely warped- except for that of The Bristol Cable, who provided some excellent coverage. A tweet from the Avon and Somerset Police later in the night stated that the police are “safely bring an end to the protest in #bristol”(sic). ITV interviewed protesters who stated that, “We’re looking for a nice Bristol protest…This is going to stay peaceful”, but despite their intentions the protest was broken up with riot police- who were backed up by The British Transport Police, Devon and Cornwall, and Dorset and Dyfet Powys, as well as police dog and horse units, helicopters, and a drone. The event poster read, “We want to show solidarity with travellers who are targeted by this bill that will criminalise trespass with intention to reside…We also stand in defiance with other groups under threat, including squatters, rough sleepers, protesters, hunt saboteurs, van dwellers, ravers and boaters…”. Similar accounts were described two days later, at a slightly smaller follow up protest, organised on Tuesday 23rd, where about 200 protestors from Bristol’s GRT community set up tents on College Green to resist the bill. The statement about the broken bones and punctured lung was quietly retracted some days later but it is important to acknowledge that the statement had already been used by the media and police to paint the protesters in a bad light- probably so that they would lose public favour and interest- with The Guardian, amongst others, reporting that, “Police officers in Bristol feel “under siege” and that, “ battered and bruised after protest turned violent” One of them also suffered a punctured lung.”. The next day Avon and Somerset Constabulary put out a statement that on their website, talking about how, “A total of 20 officers were assaulted or injured and two of them were taken to hospital after suffering broken bones. I had to jump in the way so she didn’t get hurt… tolerated the beatings at first, to show we were being peaceful, but there’s only so much you can take before you need someone to help you”. When questioned about the use of force by the police, the same eyewitness told how, “We were sat on the floor when a policeman almost hit my girlfriend with their baton. Not there to intimidate them… the cops seemed overwhelmed by the sheer number of people protesting so they tried to disperse us with batons, shields and horses”. Another different eyewitness stated, “The aim of the sit-down protest was to show police, who were regularly arriving with extra vans of reinforcements, that we were not a threat. However, after a typical protest walk around Bristol City Centre, “the crowd gathered outside Bridewell Police Station to stage a sit-down protest”. So several weeks after the controversial bill was put to parliament various local activist groups, and concerned Bristolians, organized a peaceful protest in Bristol City Centre on Sunday 21st March.Īn anonymous eyewitness said, “We were there just to make a presence by marching against the bill”. In addition to the fact that there is a longstanding political presence in Bristol, it hosts a substantial number of GRT’s and people of colour who would be affected by the passing of the PCS&CB. Originally published by Athens Indymedia.īristol is famous for its radical identity its historic riots and protests have shaped the England we know today. The bill proposes changes to a variety of laws, however it has been criticised for a number of points including its implications on people’s rights to protest, its impact on the Gypsey, Roma and Traveller (GRT) communities, its encouragement of stop and search bias towards black men and youths and numerous other things. On the 9th of March the UK government, alongside Police chiefs including Cressida Dick, announced the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill to parliament.