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Protesters against the Police and Crime Bill and the subsequent riot jailing of dozens of people in Bristol will stage a rally in the city center today to mark the second anniversary of the riots.

The coalition of groups, including Bristol Defendant Solidarity, will meet at Bearpit at 5:30pm to mark two years since the ‘Kill the Bill’ demonstration in the city center on March 21, 2021, which led to violent clashes between protesters and Avon. and Somerset Police.

An Avon and Somerset Police spokesman warned the public that there may be some disruption to traffic with the short march from Bearpit to Bridewell Police Station during rush hour on Tuesday and into the afternoon, adding that they would be closing access public. to the information desk of the police station early, around 5:00 p.m.

Read next: Three more jailed after Kill the Bill riot in Bristol

The riot outside Bridewell Police Station that Saturday in 2021 was followed by two more protests that week on College Green and then again at Bridewell Police Station, which were forcibly dispersed by police from across the region and Wales.

More than 30 people involved in the riots on March 21 have been jailed for their part in the clashes, with around half a dozen people still awaiting trial or conviction and sentencing two years later. While dozens have been jailed for taking part in clashes with police on Saturday March 21, police have since paid out-of-court settlements to several people injured by officers in the two subsequent protests that week in Bristol city center .

In literature promoting this week’s protest, organizers said they will again demonstrate outside Bridewell police station against “violence by British police and state”, describing the night of clashes between police and protesters in 2021 as “an uprising”. which has seen 34 mostly youth incarcerated or a total of over 100 years.

They claimed that the “uprising” was “in self-defense against police brutality towards protesters and in response to the rape and murder of Sarah Everard and the PCSC bill”, the murder committed by on-duty police officer Wayne Couzens that had occurred in early March 2021.

The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill became an Act of Parliament in the months after the Bristol riots of March 2021, with some aspects of the legislation strengthening the powers of police and courts to deal with to the protests.

“In those two years we have seen… the inherent and vile misogyny and racism of the police have been openly exposed and we have seen increasingly repressive legislation against protests and worker organizing,” organizers stated.

“The police and the prison system continue to attack and disappear the already most marginalized and oppressed areas of society. At the same time, the State protects and promotes a system of systematic poverty. Protect the richest and most powerful who live as they please off our backs, while one step out of line lands us in jail. The State punishes those who are victims of its policies.

“We want to come together on this to show whose side we are on, to show our solidarity with the Kill The Bill prisoners and their families and all the people brutalized by the British state and its institutions of repression,” they added.

As many of those convicted and jailed for their actions outside Bridewell Police Station were prosecuted on the basis of camera footage shot by police officers, CCTV and other phone videos posted on social media, protest organizers they urge participants to “mask up.” when they arrive at the Bearpit.

A spokesperson for Avon and Somerset Police said: “A protest is planned in Bristol city center on Tuesday, which may result in some disruption to the public. It will take place at The Bearpit at around 5:00 p.m. 30pm, with plans we understand for a short march along Bridewell Street, which may cause disruption to traffic.

“Our priority will be to facilitate peaceful protests, while protecting the rights of people who live, work and travel in the city. We will have officers in the city center to interact with protest attendees as well as other members from the public. Due to the possibility of disruptions affecting access to Bridewell Police Station, we would like to let people know that the investigation office will be closing early at 5:00pm tomorrow,” he added.

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