Fourteen people were arrested as police dispersed demonstrators in Bristol last night, days after an earlier protest descended into rioting.
Detectives have released the first images of suspects they are seeking over Sunday’s riots in the city, in which 21 police officers were injured.
Officers trained in public order were deployed last night to College Green, where police said that about 130 people had gathered again earlier in the evening.
Officers wielding batons and shields could be seen breaking up groups of protesters, with footage showing some clashes.
Avon and Somerset police tweeted at about 2.40am that the protest “has now concluded after officers enforced Covid-19 legislation”.
It said that 14 people had been arrested for offences including breaches of Covid-19 legislation and obstruction of a highway. One arrest was in connection with Sunday’s violent disorder.
In the city’s worst unrest for almost a decade, officers were attacked on Sunday by a mob with glass bottles and scaffolding, their vehicles were set on fire and a police station had its windows smashed after a peaceful protest against the police and crime bill turned violent at nightfall.
Eight men aged between 20 and 44 and one who has refused to give his details have been arrested on suspicion of violent disorder in connection with the protest on Sunday.
The force is investigating assaults on 40 officers and one member of the media.
Detective Chief Superintendent Carolyn Belafonte said that hundreds of hours of video had already been reviewed and officers and staff were working through more than two terabytes of CCTV recordings as well as video from the body-worn cameras of nearly 100 officers and more than 100 clips sent in by the public.
“We expect to release images of many more people in the coming days and ask anyone who recognises anyone to contact us,” she said.
Among those arrested was Bradley Edmonds, 28, who appeared at Bristol magistrates’ court yesterday charged with possession of an offensive weapon. Edmonds, of Bristol, who pleaded not guilty, was arrested near Bridewell police station, allegedly armed with a spear, The Sun reported.
Andy Roebuck, chairman of the Avon and Somerset Police Federation, said that rioters who tried to set fire to a police van on Sunday while officers were inside could face attempted murder charges.
Roebuck said he had spoken to two officers who said that they “genuinely feared they would be killed” during an attack on a police station in the city after the protest against the police and crime bill. “They tried to set fire to a police van with officers inside. To my mind that is attempted murder,” he told The Daily Telegraph.
Roebuck said some rioters were armed with a substance that they had sprayed on to the visors of the police in riot gear “so that they could not see properly and had to remove them”, before missiles were launched at their heads. Roebuck added that the rioters had targeted isolated officers, dragging them out and attacking them.
Last night police moved a crowd of about 130 protesters away from College Green. Videos circulating on Twitter showed riot police and their dogs clashing with crowds. Police vans and mounted officers arrived as tensions escalated. Shouts of “our streets” and “shame on you” could be heard.
Avon and Somerset police tweeted: “Officers had engaged with protesters & asked them to move on but tents & a sound system were set up. We remain in lockdown and we cannot allow this gathering to continue.”
Police have increased visible patrols in urban areas across the country amid fears of more violence, The Times has learnt. Among the cities for which there is intelligence of potential disorder are London and Brighton. A national assessment of mutual aid, in which officers are moved between forces to assist during big incidents, is under way.
Demonstrations will no longer be illegal once the coronavirus rules change on Monday. A rally against the protest legislation is being organised for Nottingham at the weekend.
Behind the story
Anti-fascists whose campaign group was involved in the Bristol rally have taken over a disused police station in south London near the spot where Sarah Everard went missing (Ali Mitib and Fiona Hamilton write).
The group, No Fixed Abode Anti Fascists, describes itself as a “group of squatters, travellers and homeless people combating fascist and bailiff thuggery”. Others at the squat said that they were a collective of groups. They were trying to rally supporters last night to help them to “kill the bill”, referring to the movement against the government’s planned restrictions on protest. They also sought help from supporters in resisting eviction from the former police station near Clapham Common.
Everard, 33, vanished while walking near by at night and her remains were found in Kent woodland this month. Her killing brought an outcry about violence against women and the Metropolitan Police was accused of heavy handedness at a vigil for her at Clapham Common. Some officers have said that the vigil was hijacked by far-left groups after ACAB (All Cops are Bastards) was daubed on a police van.
The anti-fascist group has used the acronym on social media posts about the planned eviction at the former police station. Its social media contains images of disorder in Bristol and Clapham Common.
Squatters refused to comment yesterday on their involvement in either event, resorting to profanities when asked by The Times. One supporter said: “Kill the Bill has taken off as a campaign and people are willing to take to the streets for it. I am one of them.”
This article was amended on March 25, 2021 to remove an inaccurate reference to Mark Cooper
