Violence and hate replaced with nuance and debate at Bristol's latest protest
Police thanked #KillTheBill protestors for expressing their views "in a peaceful and respectful manner"
ADVISORY: Some of the videos embedded in this article feature explicit language.
In a drastic change from previous demonstrations police and protestors shared handshakes and laughter last night, as another #KillTheBill demonstration went ahead in Bristol.
It was the fourth in nine days after all of the first three ended in violence, but this time around after a six hour event boasting hundreds of people, a march through the city centre and a sit down protest on Bridewell Street, there was not so much as a scuffle.
Once again the protest was about the Police and Crime Bill proposed by the government, which if passed would place limits on protesting including on noise levels and finish times.
Such is the level of anger about the Bill, the first protest ended with several police vehicles set alight and 40 officers assaulted.
The second saw protestors forcibly dispersed from College Green and the third saw journalists assaulted and protestors left bloodied by riot police, so as last night's progressed there was a real sense of inevitability that at some point, somehow, things would escalate.
From the start of events on College Green speeches were given urging demonstrators not to fear arrest, leaflets were handed out offering legal advice on what to do if you were detained and once the sit down protest began, a man with a microphone regularly urged anyone who would listen never to raise as much as a finger at an officer, if the police tried to move them on.
But later on despite hundreds of people sitting in the middle of Bridewell Street blocking the road, despite them sitting just a few feet from the front of Bridewell Police Station which is still boarded up after the extreme violence of the first #KillTheBill protest, despite occasional chats of "f**k the police" and signs calling them liars, the most noticeable thing about the police was that largely, they were not there.
Throughout the night a handful of police liason officers toured the crowd and spoke to demonstrators to get a sense of why they were there. In the distance the odd officer here and there observed the scene, occasionally reporting over the radio to some boss hidden away, but there were no banks of officers in riot gear brandishing batons.
Unlike last Friday (26/03) when Bridewell Street was completely sealed off to prevent the police station being attacked again, last night demonstrators were allowed to march straight passed the front door twice and then sit down right outside.
As 10pm neared, the time when previous protests have been broken up, it emerged six vans full of officers ready to move in if needed, were parked up around the corner on Deep Street. Meanwhile earlier in the night I had spotted several officers with helmets hiding in the shadows of Bridewell Street's NCP carpark. Yet outside the police station the scene remained entirely peaceful.
By this point some had begun tucking into takeaway dinners picked up from nearby. In one corner people danced to music played from a speaker, most simply sat in circles and debated the Bill with each other.
While violence and hate were perhaps the stand out features of previous gatherings, last night's was all about debate. One girl on College Green told me of her despair that, as she sees it, legitimate protests do not get the coverage they deserve unless they are violent, because without violence the story is not juicy enough. Some told me they believed the timing of the Bill was no coincidence, with lockdown being used by the government as a reason to delegitimise opposition. All said they did not want to be out, but felt compelled to be by a piece of legislation they see as an assault on their human rights.
As midnight approached still there was no sign at all of the police moving in. Slowly protestors started heading home and at one point a demonstrator approached one of the few officers on the scene and asked what their plan was. Earlier I had done the same and was told unless things turned violent then the police would let things fizzle out of its own accord. Seeing as the protestors had no one to fight but themselves, that seemed unlikely.
By half past midnight there were only two dozen or so protestors left and the few police officers that were on the scene began to leave, having decided their work was done. Before I left myself I witnessed an officer and a protestor deep in conversation share a joke, shake hands and then part ways.
If previous #KillTheBill protests were an example of how not to do things, from both sides of the thin blue line, then last night was an example of how things can and should be done.
Another demonstration, what will be the fifth in two weeks, is planned for Saturday (03/04) and will almost certainly be larger so it remains to be seen how that one plays out.
One thing's for sure, is the protesting bar has been set.