Protesters against the Police and Crime Bill and the subsequent jailing for riot of dozens of people in Bristol are to hold a demonstration in the city centre today to mark the second anniversary of the riots.
The coalition of groups, including Bristol Defendant Solidarity, are meeting at the Bearpit at 5.30pm to mark two years since the ‘Kill the Bill’ demonstration in the city centre back on March 21, 2021, which descended into violent clashes between protesters and Avon and Somerset police.
A spokesperson for Avon and Somerset police warned the public that there may be some disruption to traffic with the short march from the Bearpit to Bridewell Police Station during the Tuesday rush hour and into the early evening, and added that they would be closing the public access to the inquiry desk at the police station early, at around 5pm.
Read next: Three more jailed after Bristol Kill the Bill riot
The riot outside Bridewell police station on that Saturday back in 2021 was followed by two more protests that week on College Green and then again at Bridewell police station, which were dispersed by force by police from all over the region and Wales.
More than 30 people involved in the March 21 riot have been jailed for their part in the clashes, with around half a dozen people still awaiting trial or conviction and sentencing two years on. While dozens have been jailed for taking part in the clashes with police on Saturday, March 21, police have since paid out of court settlements to a number of people injured by officers at the two subsequent protests that week in Bristol city centre.
In literature promoting this week’s protest, organisers said they will again hold the demonstration in front of Bridewell police station against the ‘violence of the police and the British state’, describing the evening of clashes between police and protesters in 2021 as ‘an uprising’ that has seen 34 mostly young people jailed or a total of more than 100 years.
They claimed the ‘uprising’ was ‘self-defence against the brutality of the police towards demonstrators and in response to the rape and murder of Sarah Everard and the PCSC Bill’ - the murder committed by serving police officer Wayne Couzens that had occurred at the start of March 2021.
The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill became an Act of Parliament in the months after the Bristol riot of March 2021, with some aspects of the legislation strengthening the powers of the police and the courts to deal with protests.
“In those two years we have seen… the inherent and vile misogyny and racism of the police has been openly exposed and we have seen increasingly repressive legislation against protest and the organisation of working people,” the organisers claimed.
“The police and prison system continue to attack and disappear the already most marginalised and oppressed areas of society. At the same time, the state protects and furthers a system of systematic poverty. It protects the wealthiest and most powerful who live as they please off our backs whilst one step out of line puts us in prison. The state punishes those who are the victims of its policies.
“We want to come together on this to show whose side we are on, to show our solidarity with the Kill The Bill prisoners and their families and all people brutalised by the British State and its institutions of repression,” they added.
With many of those convicted and jailed for their actions outside Bridewell police station prosecuted on the basis of camera footage filmed by police officers, CCTV and other phone video posted on social media, organisers of the protest are urging those taking part to ‘mask up’ when they arrive at the Bearpit.
A spokesperson for Avon and Somerset police said: "A protest is planned for Bristol city centre on Tuesday, which may result in some disruption to the public. It is due to take place at The Bearpit at about 5.30pm, with plans we understand for a short march along Bridewell Street, which may cause disruption to traffic.
"Our priority will be to facilitate peaceful protest, while also protecting the rights of people who live, work and travel in the city. We’ll have officers in the city centre to engage with those attending the protests, as well as other members of the public. Due to the potential for disruption affecting access to Bridewell Police Station, we'd like to make people aware the enquiry office will shut early at 5pm tomorrow," he added.
Read next:
- Kill The Bill protestors handed jail terms so far in 2022
- Bristol Kill the Bill protest: Video shows jailed man hurling bin at police and bike through window
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