{"id":367840,"date":"2025-08-23T18:18:15","date_gmt":"2025-08-23T18:18:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/367840\/"},"modified":"2025-08-23T18:18:15","modified_gmt":"2025-08-23T18:18:15","slug":"bristol-anti-immigration-march-met-by-large-counter-group","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/367840\/","title":{"rendered":"Bristol anti-immigration march met by large counter group"},"content":{"rendered":"

Scott Ellis & Harriet Robinson<\/p>\n

BBC News, Bristol<\/p>\n

\"BBCBBC<\/p>\n

People gathered in and near Castle Park in Bristol<\/p>\n

A group of anti-immigration protesters have been outnumbered by counter protesters as they demonstrated against hotels housing asylum seekers.<\/p>\n

About 50 people planned to meet in Castle Park in Bristol to oppose the government scheme and march through the city, but they were met by about 250 counter protesters.<\/p>\n

Avon and Somerset Police said there were “moments of disturbance” but that the protests went without “significant incident”.<\/p>\n

One woman was arrested on suspicion of assaulting an emergency worker, and officers detained other individuals at points, but they have all been de-arrested.<\/p>\n

\"Looking<\/p>\n

Officers have a dispersal zone authorised<\/p>\n

The main police operation has been stood down, but there will be a presence in the city centre until 07:00 BST on Sunday and a dispersal zone, which allows officers to move on groups or individuals causing, or likely to cause, harassment, alarm, or distress to others. <\/p>\n

Mounted police held the two sides back from each other for almost two hours near The Galleries car park, blocking the road during confrontational scenes.<\/p>\n

None of the officers suffered serious physical injury or needed hospital treatment, but the force said there will be enquiries after reports of assaults on them.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Protesters from both sides of the debate turned out <\/p>\n

Chief Insp Keith Smith said: “Our priority today has been to enable lawful peaceful protest for both groups.<\/p>\n

“Our officers have dealt admirably with a really challenging situation, and I’d like to take the opportunity to thank them for their professionalism. <\/p>\n

“While there were moments of disturbance, we’re pleased to say the two protests have passed without significant incident.”<\/p>\n

He explained the force had worked with the city council to try and minimise disruption to the public and thanked people for their patience. There was a road closure, but that has been lifted.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Police spoke to people from both sides before the demonstrations to ensure they knew what was planned<\/p>\n

Bristol City Council said it has no plans to challenge the government’s use of hotels to house asylum seekers in the city.<\/p>\n

Councillor Tony Dyer, leader of Bristol City Council, said: “Bristol is a long-established place of sanctuary. We are a diverse city and are proud to welcome and provide safety for people seeking sanctuary from a wide range of backgrounds.<\/p>\n

“As a City of Sanctuary, we will continue to support and show compassion to people when they need it most.”<\/p>\n

He added: “Our focus is on working collaboratively to improve conditions for people seeking sanctuary and fostering compassionate and resilient communities in Bristol.”<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Bristol City Council said it had no plans to challenge the government’s use of hotels to house asylum seekers in the city<\/p>\n

\"Looking<\/p>\n

There were confrontational scenes<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Scott Ellis & Harriet Robinson BBC News, Bristol BBC People gathered in and near Castle Park in Bristol…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":367841,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,4],"tags":[12,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-367840","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-uk","8":"category-united-kingdom","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115079460300858020","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/367840","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=367840"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/367840\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/367841"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=367840"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=367840"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=367840"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}