News / Kill the Bill
People take to Bristol streets in solidarity with ‘kill the bill prisoners’
Chants of “kill the bill” were heard on the streets outside Bridewell Police Station as a peaceful march came to a halt on Saturday.
Some 17 months after events in the same location on Rupert Street made headlines around the globe, people turned out in solidarity with those who have been imprisoned since.
Chants of “kill the bill” were in reference to the controversial Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill, which curtails the right to protest, among other things.
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The march on Saturday left Castle Park and wound its way down Bond Street before coming to a stop outside Bridewell Police Station, bringing traffic to a halt.
Here, in an impassioned speech, the mum Mariella Gedge-Rogers, who was sentenced to five and a half years for riot, said she wouldn’t rest until she gets the riot charges dropped and prisoners released, arguing the sentence was “disproportionate and unfair”.
“Kill the bill defendants, you are not alone. Kill the bill prisoners, you are not alone,” chanted the protesters as they eventually made their way song Rupert Street once more.
“Brick by brick, wall by wall, free them all.”
The route took them past Bristol Crown Court, where 19 people to date have been handed prison sentences in connection with unrest on March 21 last year.
People turned out in solidarity with those who have been sentenced over the events on March 21
Organisers of the demonstration stated: “By standing with these prisoners and defendants, we show that we are on the side of resistance, not repression. On the side of the people, not the state.”
Police thanked the public for their patience while they facilitated the peaceful protest.
Chants of “kill the bill” were heard on the streets once again
Protesters held placards calling for riot charges to be dropped
The march came to a temporary halt outside Bridewell Police Station
Protesters say they wanted to “show that we are on the side of resistance, not repression”
All photos: Ellie Pipe
Read more: Are Bristol’s ‘kill the bill’ protesters being made an example of by the state?
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