Bristol Kill The Bill demo; George Francis eviction; Severn Bridge repaired; ITV West News 21Mar23

Peaceful ‘kill the bill’ protest staged two years on from riot

By Betty Woolerton, Tuesday Mar 21, 2023

https://www.bristol247.com/news-and-features/news/peaceful-kill-the-bill-protest-staged-two-years-on-from-riot/

‘Kill the bill’ protesters took to the streets on Tuesday evening to mark two years to the day since the infamous demonstration that descended into violence outside Bridewell Police Station.

The ‘stand against state violence’ peaceful protest was held to show solidarity with people sentenced for their actions during the riot on March 21, 2021, and their families, and “the brutality of the police towards demonstrators”.

More than 200 people came together in the Bearpit before marching to the same police station, on Bridewell Street, that came under attack two years ago.

Shouts of “whose streets? Our streets!” and “no justice, no peace, no racist police” could be heard as the droves of people, many with their faces covered with scarves and marks, weaved through the city centre, stopping oncoming traffic.

It was lead by half a dozen marchers holding a banner reading ‘free the prisoners, drop the charges’, with police officers closely monitoring the demonstration.

One protester was Heidi Gedge, mother of Mariella Gedge-Rogers who was sentenced to five and a half years for riot for her actions during the 2021 riot. She says her daughter was “unfairly” imprisoned and “brutally attacked” by police, and has been campaigning for a year with the Justice for the Bristol Protesters group.

Gedge told Bristol24/7: “Our campaign is set on getting the narrative out there, finding out why police officers have not been punished for their role on the day because a lot of the violence was instigated by the police.”

“We want to get the riot charges dropped and get them freedom.”

Gedge-Rogers is one of 32 jailed for offences committed during the riot, all of which have been imprisoned for a combined total of over 100 years.

As the darkness fell, several people addressed the crowd, including Jasmine York, who was given a nine-month sentence for pushing a bin into a burning police car during the disturbance, and from Bristol Copwatch.

A representative of Bristol Industrial Workers of the World said: “The streets of Bristol will never be safe as long as the police are walking them.”

Halfway through, a banner was displayed from Rupert Street Car Park listing the names of some of those sentenced for their involvement in the riot.

‘Kill the bill’ protests took place in Bristol and across the UK throughout 2021 in opposition to the government’s controversial Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill, which passed into law in June 2022.

Sections of the bill were condemned by protesters and human rights activists as an attack on the right to protest, arguing that it could curb the right to peacefully protest.

The Bristol riot saw clashes between Avon and Somerset Police and protesters, with fireworks thrown, police vehicles burnt and graffitied and demonstrators pepper-sprayed and ‘bladed’ with shields.

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