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Demo outside Bristol Crown Court in solidarity with ‘kill the bill’ defendants
Thirty-two people have so far been given jail terms of a combined total of 98 years and ten months following Bristol’s ‘kill the bill’ protests.
A demonstration was held outside Bristol Crown Court on Friday in solidarity with defendants due in court for their involvement in the events of March 2021.
Demonstrators held banners with the words: “They stood up for our freedom, now we stand up for theirs” and “Solidarity overcomes repression”.
is needed now More than ever
Four defendants are due to be sentenced on Friday.
They are Carmen Fitchett for affray; Daniel Zachary Ellis for riot and arson; Leah Brenchley for assault of an emergency worker and criminal damage; and Rokas Barisauska for riot and arson.
Jasmine York was jailed for nine months in March 2022 for arson charges – photo: Mia Vines Booth
Jasmine York, who served nine months in prison for her involvement in the riots, was in attendance at the demo on Small Street.
She told Bristol24/7 that protesters were “being made an example of” and that “there had been no accountability of the police whatsoever”.
“We want to show (defendants) support and make them feel like they are not on their own,” York said.
“The way that the police handled the protest was completely unjust, and it’s clear that they’re making an example out of protestors.
York also pointed to the recent arrests at a republican protest over the Coronation weekend.
“Look at the coronation. Protests are being criminalised consistently, so we want to show up and say we are not going to sit back and have our right to free speech taken away.
“We are moving towards a police state and we don’t think that’s okay. There has been no accountability of the police whatsoever.
“Even the way the justice system has treated defendants – it’s been two years, and people have had charges dropped at the last minute, trails adjourned and people harassed. The whole treatment of people has been catastrophic and unjust and its ruining people’s lives.
“Community is everything, without community there is no support as the system isn’t going to protect us.”
Main photo: Mia Vines Booth
Read next:
- Peaceful ‘kill the bill’ protest staged two years on from riot
- Police pay damages to peaceful ‘kill the bill’ protestors
- Are Bristol’s ‘kill the bill’ protestors being made examples of by the state?
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