We Are Bristol, Who Are You?
We Are Bristol, Who Are You?
Over the weekend of the 3rd August there was a wave of far-right violence in the UK, spurred on by the horrific killing of three young girls in Southport by a man whom far right influencers incorrectly identified as a Muslim migrant. After ‘protests’ on Saturday and Sunday turned violent, particularly in towns such as Rotherham, Tamworth, and here in Bristol, another list of targets was released. This list - all immigration lawyer’s offices - was apparently to be attacked on the coming Wednesday. Communities across the country managed to organise such enormous counter-protests in the space of three days that the fascists didn’t try to cause any serious trouble and as a result we were (rather bizarrely) lauded by the right wing press for stopping the riots. I was at the counter demonstration on the 3rd, and wanted to note down my thoughts and experiences from the day whilst they are still somewhat fresh in my mind. I was also involved with setting up Bristol Anti-Racist Action who organised the defence of the lawyers office on the 7th, but that’s a bit of writing for another time.
The Park
So, Saturday 3rd August. A big national day of action from the far right following a riot in Southport earlier in the week, with demonstrations in 20+ cities across the weekend. Naturally, a counter-demonstration was organised here in Bristol so myself and some comrades went down to show our support for the migrant communities of the city, and to tell the far right where to stick it. The protest had been planned to start in Castle Park - which sits right in the centre of town - with a march to the Mercure Hotel in Redcliffe later in the day (I was not aware of this at the time, but the police and counter demonstration organisers were, more on that later). When I arrived it was already very tense, with a massive police presence and all your standard fun protest stuff - banners, chants, people telling coppers to pick their dog’s shit up - but it was a much bleaker atmosphere than other protests I’ve been to in Bristol, even the Kill The Bill ones. A lot more agitation in the air, definitely a feeling that things had the potential to take a messy and violent turn if the situation got out of hand.
The park is divided in two with a raised terrace and a lower grassy area towards the river. All of the fascists had been pushed back into the lower area before I arrived, then there were large lines of police - including both mounted and riot varieties - and then the counter demonstration was up top, giving us an excellent vantage point over the throng of shitheads. This part was pretty entertaining despite the frosty atmosphere - both crowds hurling insults, pints, and in some cases eggs at one another for about an hour. Good sense of solidarity here, everyone was coming up with inventive insults for the largely hammered bunch of identikit flag wankers and trying to see who could get the biggest laugh from the comrades. Still, despite the laughs it was very concerning seeing such a large and concentrated group of fascists - definitely a much larger congregation of those types than I’d ever seen before, probably some three hundred of them. Already the day felt like a real chickens coming home to roost moment. This is what the past thirty odd years of Thatcherite politics and erosion of the quality of living has led to.
The police eventually started pushing them back out of the park and towards Bristol Bridge. We, of course, followed. It was apparent that the police line wasn’t effective enough at keeping the two halves of the crowd separated and scuffles started to break out, and I saw a few arrests - including a young Black guy who had clearly been defending himself from a racist attack, so fuck you Avon and Somerset Police. Again, the atmosphere was incredibly tense and only getting worse by the minute. I hadn’t been in a situation like this before and it was pretty full on, pretty frightening already - Although some stumbling moron did call me and my friend ‘Jitters’ which I haven’t heard since 2005, so at least they are consistent in their outdated thinking. After all the ‘demonstrators’ with ‘legitimate concerns’ were all kettled on a bridge I saw some of them chucking up Hitler salutes which was one of the most upsetting parts of the day for me - seeing that level of hate, out in the open, en masse, in our beautiful city turned my stomach.
Once they had been contained on Bristol Bridge, word got around that we needed to get people over to the Mercure Hotel in Redcliffe. Yet, a lot of potential routes were blocked either by fascists or the police (har har!), and a load of our lot had already been kettled in Castle Park. So, a group of us took the circuitous route around St Nicks Market and ran through the back streets, chanting and singing songs, getting up in the faces of the red-faced, hammered men who would flip us off from outside pubs. Very good vibes this bit. We were righteous and on a mission. I’ve never had such a defined feeling that we were doing the right thing and I was extremely energised and encouraged in this moment. Morale was at the highest point of the day, with the tension in the air replaced by pure, liquid camaraderie.
The Hotel
When we eventually got to the hotel - about ten minutes at our light jog - we were pleased to see we’d got there before the bulk of the fascists did because there was a pathetic police presence standing guard. Shy of dozen or so cops on pushbikes, a couple of blue bibs, no riot police, no cavalry, nothing substantial. Bear in mind the police knew that the hotel would be a target and had seen how many ‘demonstrators’ there were in the park, and how riled up they were, but for some reason this wasn’t considered a priority location. Thankfully, all us folks that they were smacking around with riot shields in 2021 were there to pick up the slack.
At the entrance to the hotel, there was already a row of brave comrades with their arms linked in front of the main doors. As we approached, we could see the kids in the hotel windows throwing up love hearts and waving at us and we all responded in kind. A truly wonderful moment, showing those kids that the vast majority of us Bristolians love and support them felt so important.
There were roughly a hundred of us comrades, the dozen coppers, and then a handful of fascists across the far side of the road at this point. Things continued just as they had in Castle Park - insults, half-swigged cans, and the occasional rock flying between the camps, all of that - but things felt far, far more tense now. Uproarious laughter had been replaced by the nervous kind as the atmosphere grew increasingly dark, and I think we all knew something bad was coming. I was a bit further back at this point, by the entrance to the hotel, but from down the hill I could hear - no shit - a huge chant of ‘Ooohh Tommy Tommy’ coming over the wall of comrades, making the whole thing feel like Helm’s Deep but with even dumber orcs. Shit started to properly kick off at this point, with the newly arrived mob of thugs breaking through the police line on the lower side of the hotel and being bravely held back by our lot.
That brawl continued for some time as more and more dickheads started to arrive and push up the main road towards the front of the hotel. A crowd had gathered by the time the police cavalry arrived and barrelled through the battle on the lower side - which was a very strange moment as a crowd of anarchists, communists, POC, queer folks, and various other legends whooped and cheered at the arrival of the mounted police.
Things really took a turn at this point, as the rightists were sneaking into the back of our crowd via an open flank and sucker punching people, and a large melee had begun to break out just metres from the doors of the hotel. I saw some cyclists who were jeering at the dickheads get chased down, dragged from their bikes, and beaten. The most fucked up shit I’ve ever seen. Honestly, I knew I’d see something like this eventually but the speed at which things escalated over the course of a week was shocking. At this point I had been separated from my comrades, and upon seeing a gentleman about four yards away from me take a right hook to the chin out of nowhere, I beat a hasty retreat - so others may be more qualified to speak on the ensuing half hour, but I’ll do my best to provide a summary from the conversations I had afterwards.
The fascists then proceeded to mount an all-out assault on the front defensive line outside the hotel, only around ten feet from the line of arm-in-arm comrades who were situated directly outside the main entrance. There’s plenty of videos of this part floating around, but it descended into a full-on street brawl with our brave comrades standing their ground against a tide of drunken hatred. A separate group went to defend the side entrance to hotel as our dear friends held the fascists off long enough for the police to finally get a handle on the situation and stick a row of horses between the rioters and the antifascists, solidarity forever is sung, the scumbags get moved off by the police. Everyone goes home safe except for some cuts, bruises and a broken hand.
The Aftermath
It was a resounding success considering that the police did not have nearly enough of a presence there, taking far too long to get the situation under control, and the following night two hotels housing migrants in other towns nearly got burnt down by fascist mobs. If there hadn’t been a crowd of dedicated communists of all stripes putting themselves on the line to protect the lives of innocent people, then they would have got to the hotel. It’s as simple as that. It wasn’t the state or the police or whatever - we showed that the best way to protect a community is with the community and that’s an absolutely massive win in and of itself, never mind the potential lives saved by our presence.
Over the following days, some beloved friends set up a crowdfunder to provide sweets and toys and fun things for the kids who were living in the Mercure. The funding goal was hit so quickly that the donations had to be paused, further showing that migrants are welcome in Bristol and the far right are overwhelmingly outnumbered by kind, caring people.
A group of us that were at the hotel realised that it was essential to get organised to stop anything like this from happening again, and so Bristol Anti-Racist Action was born. Upon the release of the list of lawyers' offices, we swung into action and organised a counter demonstration that ended up attracting some five thousand plus people thanks to three days of tireless work from a coalition of activists from across Bristol’s left wing political scene.
We may have seen them off on the 7th, but the ideological currents that led to the riot are going nowhere and this is definitely not the last time we will see events like this in the coming years. We - as a city, not as disparate and isolated communities, but as a whole - need to be prepared to respond on short notice to get out into the streets and push them back once again. So please sign the Bristol Anti-Racist Action pledge, get involved, and ensure that Bristol remains a safe and welcoming place for migrants, POC, queer folks, and every other vulnerable minority that forms an essential part of our vibrant, wonderful home.
Click here to sign the BARA pledge
