News / Marvin Rees
Rees: ‘Violence can happen anywhere’
The mayor of Bristol has said he was not shocked by the recent fatal attack in Brislington or the stabbings in Broadmead.
On Tuesday, a man was fatally attacked in Brislington and police have arrested five men on suspicion of murder. In a separate incident on the same day, two men were stabbed in Wilko in Broadmead.
Marvin Rees said “violence can happen anywhere” and added “shocked” would not be the right word, during his fortnightly press conference held on Wednesday. He also commented on the recent tragic school shooting in America.
is needed now More than ever
Several arrests have been made after a man sadly died during a disorder in the Brislington area of #Bristol last night.
An investigation is under way and we’re asking for witnesses, or anyone with relevant dash cam/CCTV/doorbell footage, to contact us ⬇️ https://t.co/sQmt5UiSRG
— Avon and Somerset Police (@ASPolice) May 25, 2022
Rees said: “I would acknowledge the consequences for those involved, for the families of those involved, and the communities around it as well. We just have to wait for the police inquiry to play itself out and find out more of what’s going on.”
Asked if he was shocked by the public nature of both attacks, he said: “I don’t think shocked is the right word. I was taken aback, but violence can happen anywhere, can’t it? Violence happens in real places, doesn’t it? To be honest, it fits in with what we know.”
The late-night attack in Brislington, in the Bloomfield Road area, saw at least six men injured and one man killed. Police said the five men they arrested included two who were driving on the M4 to London.
Rees gave a TED talk in Vancouver on April 13 about global collaboration among mayors – photo: Ryan Lash / TED
Asked about the school shooting in the United States on Tuesday, Rees said: “The US seems to have this social, theological relationship to guns that is out of all proportion to the level of conspiratorially sourced threat it thinks it faces, or certain elements in the US think they face. There’s always a racial dynamic to that as well. They need tighter gun control.
“I find that element of the US identity, the need to have an assault rifle, some kind of perversion. It’s just tragic, people send their kids off to school in the morning – and I have children in that age range – and they’re dead by the end of the day.”
Main photo: Ellie Pipe
Read more: Murder investigation following ‘shocking and violent’ incident in Brislington
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