News / Kill the Bill riot
Kill the Bill protester: ‘We were provoked by the police’
A protester who took part in the violent scenes outside Bridwell police station has said that it was the police’s heavy-handed tactics which provoked Sunday’s riot.
Alex said that when he arrived, there was two lines of police and protesters at either side.
He told Novara Media: “When I got there, protesters on both sides were attempting to sit back down and continue the peaceful sit-down protest.
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“There was certainly a lot of tension between us and the police but it didn’t really escalate until the police attempted that mounted horseback charge on us.
“Even after that, everyone was showing a really impressive amount of restraint given how provocative the police were being at basically every opportunity.
“After that the police started striking people a lot more indiscriminately. They made several more attempts to charge the crowd and beat them back.
“Obviously sitting down at this point wasn’t really an option they left available to us.
“Eventually after riling up the crowd and being put on the back foot for a bit, they retreated to a more defensive line in front of the station.
“After that is when some of the burning started happening.”
Kill the Bill protesters sitting down outside Bridewell police station – photo: Phil Riley
He added: “If the police had tactics that were geared towards de-escalating the situation, and not whatever the hell they thought they were doing, it could have gone a lot more peacefully.”
Alex said that the police were responsible for creating “the volatile situation”.
“There was push-back from the crowd. When police charge at you with horses and dogs, with batons and with pepper spray, you tend to need to defend yourself against that.
“People were sitting down when the horses came out and when they attempted a horseback charge. People were sitting down only minutes before that. There was no provocation.”
So where will Alex go from here and will this protest-cum-riot catalyse a much broader movement?
“I’d like to see people move on from this one single event at some point. It doesn’t help to constantly obsess over the spectacle of the violence that we’ve seen.
“I hope – especially if this bill does pass – that we’ve shown, at least, maybe not in the best way, but we’ve shown that we can’t be intimidated by the police, and if they want to criminalise peaceful protest then this is what every protest is going to look like because they won’t be able to be organised well.”
Watch Bristol24/7’s videos of the riot on YouTube:
Main photo: Phil Riley
Read more: ‘One of the biggest suspects appeal ever’ launched in wake of Bristol riot
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