Kill the Bill: fourth Bristol protest passes off peacefully

Police say they are "pleased" that a fourth Kill the Bill protest in Bristol passed off peacefully on Tuesday.

Supt Mark Runacres said they want to "press the reset button" now that lockdown restrictions around protests have eased.

About 300 to 400 people marched through the city and took part in a sit-down protest near Bridewell Police station.

It was the fourth demonstration in 10 days, with the previous three seeing clashes between police and protestors.

The demonstration was the first to be held under new rules for lockdown easing and a speaker asked those present to "keep it peaceful".

People gathered on College Green at about 19:00 BST, where they cheered a speech explaining their concerns about the Government's proposed Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill, which is making its way through Parliament.

Uniformed police officers watched from a distance as the crowd sat in the street, played reggae music and shouted "Peaceful protest", "Our streets" and "Kill the Bill".

Supt Runacres said that although they had not been able to speak to organisers before the protest, there was good communication between officers and demonstrators throughout the evening.

"We were really pleased that we were able to facilitate the protest and that it remained peaceful. That's exactly what we were after," Supt Runacres said.

With another protest anticipated on Saturday, Supt Runacres urged organisers to engage with police ahead of the event.

"Bus routes were suspended yesterday so it does have a huge impact on the city, so while we want to facilitate peaceful protest, we're also very aware of the need to mitigate the impact for other residents who aren't necessarily interested in the protest cause," he said.

"I would appeal to organisers to contact us so we can work out those facts to allow their voices to be heard in a way that doesn't have disproportionate impact on the rest of the city.

"I talked about pressing the reset button and I think yesterday indicated that could well have been achieved and we want to see that continue in the same vein on Saturday."

Protestors described the atmosphere at Tuesday's demonstration as "a lot calmer" than the previous ones, adding that "the whole point is to be peaceful" as they speak out against the bill.

"It shows that if policing takes a step back, it's a lot more of a calmer vibe and calmer environment," said one man, who wished to remain anonymous.

"I wanted to come down, obviously the violent side of it I'm not here for, but...I wanted to show my support and solidarity so I came down after work," added another.

Others told the BBC that "people are fed up of having their rights taken away".

The first Bristol protest against the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill descended into violence when about 500 people marched on Bridewell police station and police vehicles were set alight on 21 March.

Two days later, 15 arrests were made after trouble flared when police began moving protesters from College Green.

In the third protest, on 26 March, 10 people were arrested after police said glass bottles, bricks and eggs were thrown at officers and fireworks were launched at its mounted division, with one horse being daubed with paint.

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