Demonstrations against the police bill follow a long tradition of radicalism. Protesters say that, after last week’s violence, their side of the story has not been told
For the third time in less than a week thousands of protesters gathered in the centre of Bristol last Friday to oppose the controversial police and crime bill, which many fear will criminalise the social movements and vibrant, alternative cultures that have made the West Country city such a hub of resistance to the government.
As the grey rain clouds over Bristol’s crumbling, graffiti-scrawled Georgian streets and tower blocks gave away to cool spring sunshine, a diverse crowd of mainly young people assembled on muddy College Green, starting point for so many of the city’s demonstrations over the years, including the Black Lives Matter march that toppled the statue of slave trader Edward Colston last June.
