Policing was highly political, focusing almost entirely on containing opposition to the far right
~ Scott Harris ~
Saturday 15 November saw another humiliation for the far-right “Bristol Patriots” in the face of overwhelming anti-fascist opposition
Their demonstration was aimed at the Mercure hotel in the Redcliffe area of the city, which houses asylum seekers and had been the target of attempted attacks during the anti-immigration riots in August 2024. Despite inviting a range of other groups in a bid to swell their numbers, including UKIP’s Nick Tenconi, Bristol Patriots only managed to draw between 40 and 75 supporters and were opposed by approximately 400 lively anti-fascists.
The police battled to contain roaming groups of anti-fascists seeking to engage in full and frank debate with the assorted fascists, conspiracists, and allegedly apolitical ‘concerned citizens’, while others stood, chanted and played music at the doors of the hotel in solidarity with the people housed inside. In one particularly touching moment, one of the younger residents held up a sign to the window reading: “Thank you for protecting us, we love you”.
Police reported one police officer going to hospital for minor injuries from a scuffle, but did not mentioning a number of significant injuries – including head injuries – to anti-fascist activists from the blows of police batons. Inevitably, policing was highly political, focusing almost all their energies on containing anti-fascists, ending up making several arrests. Meanwhile, Bristol Patriots let off flares and various far-right streamers were allowed to bravely shout abuse at antifas from behind the safety of police lines.
Bristol has become a target for far-right activity recently, with repeated efforts to encroach on ‘enemy territory’. This has been aggravated by a recent case in which a number of brown men in Bristol have been arrested on child sexual exploitation charges. Large numbers of Union Flags and St George’s Crosses have been attached to lamp-posts in working class, white-majority neighbourhoods, such as Withywood, Hartcliffe and Lawrence Weston. These areas are being targeted after decades of state neglect and stigma have led residents to feel rightly angered by a status quo that only works for the rich and powerful.
According to participants, anti-fascists may have won the battle in Redcliffe and so far all recent demonstrations, but a much bigger war needs to be fought for hearts and minds across the city, to ensure that the far-right don’t become the de facto anti-establishment voices in some neighbourhoods.
Images from public Facebook posts
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