Fifteen arrested over Bristol protests

Demonstration followed alleged police violence during protest against Tesco store in Stokes Croft area last week Fifteen people were arrested in Bristol after further protests in the Stokes Croft area resulted in violent clashes between protesters and police. The protest was against alleged police violence after clashes at a demonstration against a Tesco store in the area last week. Officers raided a house and arrested four squatters they said were “a real threat to the local community”. Demonstrators removed roof tiles and used them as missiles when clashes broke out as numbers in the Thursday night protest, on Cheltenham Road, grew to almost 400. Witnesses said officers used batons, and police horses charged at demonstrators at least three times throughout the night. Police said those arrested at the squat, known as Telepathic Heights, last week were suspected of planning to petrol bomb the new Tesco Local. But the squatters insisted they had nothing to do with a local campaign to stop the supermarket chain. Police and protesters said that Thursday night’s disturbances began after several bottles were thrown at police. Officers from Avon and Somerset Constabulary said they did not respond to the taunts, and community mediators spoke to those responsible to appeal for calm. A group of protesters, some of whom donned masks and armed themselves with rocks and bottles, splintered off and started heading towards the city centre, according to a statement released by the Avon and Somerset force. Demonstrators at the scene said police decided to block off protesters at the Stokes Croft and Jamaica Street junction, at which point demonstrators started throwing more bottles. Police said fires were lit and graffiti was daubed throughout the area. “As soon as the police stopped them, passions started running high,” Chris Chalkley, of the People’s Republic of Stokes Croft, which has been lobbying against the Tesco store, said. “I was hit by a [police] baton, and I saw several others being hit and bottles being thrown. Bins were being pulled across the road, and the police kept coming.” Chalkley insisted that neither local campaigners against Tesco nor squatters were involved in the violence. “People were coming from afar for a ruckus. I didn’t recognise many of them. I can’t say more than that,” he said. Police said officers from several other forces were called in to help contain the violence. They expect more arrests to be made after they have looked through CCTV footage. Assistant Chief Constable Rod Hansen, of Avon and Somerset Constabulary, said: “Throughout the past week, our neighbourhood officers have received the strong message from local residents and traders that they do not want further disruption. “I am satisfied that our tactics were appropriate and proportionate, and feel that the officers involved acted professionally and with great restraint given the threat and personal danger they faced. “To those who are responsible for committing serious crime, I can only reiterate that we have made 15 arrests already and I anticipate making many more from the video evidence we have obtained and using statements from victims and witnesses.” Rick Palmer, the services director of Bristol City council, said: “What we have seen tonight is totally unacceptable behaviour, which is clearly not supported by local people.” Crime Police Protest Rowenna Davis guardian.co.uk

Posted by on April 29, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.