By Sofia Lambis, Deputy Editor, Oliver Poyser, News Print Editor & Dana Datu, News Reporter
Roughly 100 anti-immigration protesters and 400 counter-protesters demonstrated in Bristol City Centre on Sunday.
The anti-immigration protesters were led by an organised group called the Bristol Patriots. Their side of the protest was laden with Union Jacks and the St George’s Cross, with some demonstrators both wearing and flying them. An Israeli flag was also flown, as well as a flag emblazoned with ‘RIP Charlie Kirk’.
That same statement appeared on their signs, which also included phrases such as ‘God Save the UK’, ‘Deport Illegals Now’, ‘Stop the Boats’ and ‘Unite the Kingdom’, mirroring the name of the rally held recently by Tommy Robinson in London.
An official counter-protest organised by Stand Up to Racism Bristol gathered at 11:30 AM by the Neptune statue, away from their designated pen. They were supported by groups such as the Bristol Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Stop the War Bristol and the University and College Union. Bristol Antifascists were also present.
Counter-protesters chanted ‘refugees are welcome here’ and ‘from the sea to the river Palestine will live forever’. A table was set up offering attendees free water, masks, sunglasses and sugary drinks.
Both groups were given separate protest zones by police. Armed with truncheons and with several on horseback, the police had enhanced powers for the demonstration. They could order people to disperse from an area and ask for face coverings to be removed. In a statement released before the protest they warned that ‘failure to comply’ with the temporary conditions would be ‘a criminal offence’.
A representative of The Bristol Socialist Students - a Bristol SU affiliated society - told Epigram that this was ‘the biggest police response to a protest [he’d] ever seen’ claiming it was ‘completely disproportionate.’
One counter-protestor stood at the other demonstration’s police line with a sign reading ‘it is illegal to deny aid.’ She was asked by police to move on or be in breach of Section 35. Speaking to Epigram, she said she came to the protest so ‘people in Bristol know that wherever they’ve come from they’re very very welcome here.’
In the lead up to the protest residential teams of Campbell House and Accommodation at 33 - University of Bristol first-year accommodations - sent emails to residents warning them to stay safe over the weekend.
And on the day of the protest, the Arnolfini, Watershed and Spike Island opened up their venues to anyone ‘in need of a safe space’ in the city centre.
At around 2pm, the protesters moved towards College Green, with police kettling counter-protesters to prevent the groups clashing.
The march ended at College Green, where two kettles had been set up.The anti-immigration protesters went to the western kettle, with a line of police officers surrounding the barricade. Although never deployed, police dogs could be heard barking from a van. When asked about the dogs, one police officer said they were a ‘contingency.’
Speaking to Epigram, a representative for Bristol Stand Up To Racism said the protest was organised because ‘we didn’t want the far-right in the streets’. He claimed that groups like the Bristol Patriots were ‘burning down hotels’ and ‘intimidating [people] with flags’ while ‘saying they were protecting people’.
Another counter-protester said that she felt both groups were pointing fingers at each other, and they needed to speak to one another ‘in the same language - a lot of people can't back up what they're saying, and neither can I sometimes.’ She said that ‘if you want to make change, you have to be better.’
The two groups almost clashed near the end as some anti-immigration protesters began to leave. They were followed by police escorts who created a moving cordon around them. Some counter-protesters ran towards them shouting ‘Nazi scum’.
With very few protesters left, Epigram was allowed through the police cordon around 3 PM.
The protester Epigram interviewed - a ‘mum of two’ who ‘want[ed] a better life for [her and her] children’ - said she was there over concerns about ‘the illegals coming over from France’.
She said that she came to ‘show the government that we’ve had enough’, and that they needed to ‘take care of us’ and ‘look after our country’. She thought the government had a ‘soft touch’ towards asylum seekers and claimed that many were non-genuine refugees, calling them ‘fighting age men.’
She said that the biggest problem was the government and a lack of candidates to replace them. She said with ‘Starmer, it’s all empty lies’ and that she would ‘not even’ vote for Nigel Farage, because ‘he’s gone weird’. She claimed that ‘no one’s listening.’
When Epigram asked her about the claims that protesters were fascists, racists and Nazis, she stated that it was ‘the easy answer - just to tarnish everyone with the same brush’.
With the protest coming to a close, and only a few demonstrators left standing, the counter-protest descended into a tense but party-like atmosphere. A speaker had been set up, playing a techno-style song, with the lyrics ‘Bristol is anti-fascist’.
In a statement Avon and Somerset Police said three arrests were made during the protest for ‘assault or public order offences’ but ‘no-one is understood to have sustained significant physical injury.’
All three of these individuals have now been released, according to the BBC.
Featured Image: Tom Foley
