Resistrance. A benefit for defendant solidarity in Bristol

Here’s the full details of the massive political party planned for Saturday 3 December in Bristol, with all proceeds going to maintain the work of Bristol Defendant Solidarity in supporting those arrested and/or imprisoned following the disturbances earlier this year in Stokes Croft and elsewhere. Organised and hosted by Resistrance, Kebele Sound, Next2Nothing and friends…

BDS info

Film Night at Kebele. Sunday 4th Dec from 5.30pm: Prison? “A Film by Charlie Ryder”

Bristol Anarchist Black Cross and Bristol Defendant Solidarity are proud to present Charlie Ryder’s new film Prison? Following the 80 minute film there will be a Q&A with discussion.

Resistance Rhymes – A Fundraiser For Bristol Defendants

The always up for it Kebele Sound Collective, in association with various itinerants & dissidents, crank up the pressure this Friday with a night of truly international (and local) rabble rousing n ranting hip hop. Profits from the gig will go towards supporting defendants in Bristol facing charges from recent street-level acts of resistance.

Anti-repression round up

So two weeks after the wave of disturbances swept across England, and the state’s blinkered response is clear to one and all – revenge against all those that stepped outside the accepted norms of of our disfunctional society. Unless of course you are a politician, media tycoon, corporation, or cop, in which case the normal rules dont apply and you are free to get away with just about anything – like stealing £’s thousands and millions, and of course shooting people dead.

What we are seeing is naked class justice from the ruling class directed at the working class, as they break all the rules they expect us to abide by and make up new ones to suit themselves along the way. Or to look at it another way, on the 10th August they were scared, very scared, and they didn’t like it one bit. So thousands arrested, over 1600 so far railroaded through emergency courts, hundreds of images of people published by the media before any sort of trial, unusually long prison sentences and irregular bail conditions handed down, and so on. With the prisons & police cells full to bursting with both remanded and sentenced prisoners, it only needs one spark for the whole prison system to break down, whilst the conditions inside the prisons will cause many prisoners to break down. The suicide of a remand prisoner at Bristol prison last weekend will not be the last (remember that whatever charges the person may face, they aint even been to trial yet). Meanwhile back on the streets its business as usual for the ruling class with rising unemployment and inflation, more cuts to services, devalued wages and pensions and savings, and of course more bank bailouts from public money.

Bristol Defendant Solidarity

Bristol ABC has agreed to host a page for Bristol Defendant Solidarity. Here’s the intro to the page:

Bristol Defendant Solidarity
Bristol arrestee support first made an appearance in late 2010 providing support and advice by phone & email during/after the student protests. Now following the Stokes Croft resistance of April 2011 the Bristol Defendant Solidarity (BDS) has been formed, incorporating and building upon the work of arrestee support. BDS involves a number of activists with experience of arrests, police station and court processes, suing the cops, and legal, defendant & prisoner support.

Whilst we were away Bristol rebelled

The Bristol ABC blog has been quiet the last 8 weeks, whilst Bristol has been very rebellious and making national headlines. We’ve not exactly been away, but lack of people to do the work has meant the blog hasn’t been maintained as we’d like it to be. In fact those of us who have been around and about and healthy have been very busy locally, including helping out with legal and prisoner support. We’ll be trying to keep the blog upto date from now on, and we have a pile of info and news to pass your way.

Stokes Croft
Whilst Stokes Croft is actually just a fairly short street to the north of the city centre, it has become known as an ‘area’ that extends north, west and east into surrounding streets and neighbourhoods. On April 21/22 and 28/29 it was the scene of some fairly serious resistance to a police invasion and attempts at repression, events that have been heavily reported on Bristol Indymedia, and the local corporate press, and nationally. Whilst some saw it as just opposition to Tescos locally, in fact it was much more than that. Such high profile resistance does come inevitably with a state and media crackdown afterwards, with at least 50 arrests so far, and the need for some serious defendant solidarity.

Legal support and defence fundraiser

Benefit for Canadian G20 legal defence and Bristol bust fund

Kebele Sound Collective and friends brings you a punk and ska fundraiser supporting direct action defendants, with:
Cartouche – melodic punk from the barricades of Paris
No Choice – legendary anarcho punk from South Wales
Na No and the Nachos – skanking new ska pink band from Bristol

Saturday April 9th from 8pm
The White Hart, Whitehall Road, Easton. BS5 9BJ.
£4/£3 conc

Here’s where the money goes:

26 March legal & arrest update

The following info was published on the Freedom Press website today, having been sourced from the Met Police. Legal support from GBC and LDMG have been at courts and on the phone getting hold of defendants. There are likely to be more arrests and more people charged. Equally, many charges may be dropped, and even when they aren’t and the case goes to court, many people will be found not guilty. If you are arrested, and charged, don’t panic and don’t be scared. The police want you to be frightened and afraid, they want you to stop protesting and fighting. Don’t let them win – there is plenty of support available, make use of it.

Summary of arrests from March 26th

147 people charged with offences:
138 people charged with aggravated trespass in connection with the incident at Fortnum & Mason. Due to appear on various dates at City of Westminster Magistrates’ Court  (first being 9th May)
3 people charged with criminal damage
2 people charged with assaulting a police officer
1 person charged with S4 Public Order Act (threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour)
1 person charged with being drunk and disorderly

Solidarity needed with defendants from London anti-cuts protests

The magnificent protests that rocked London on Saturday 26 March will have at least one major downside – mass arrests, with more to follow. Those arrested deserve and need our support.

So far it seems just over 200 people have been arrested, mainly, but not all, at either the Fortnum & Mason shop occupation, or later at night in Trafalgar Square when the cops kettled a party crowd of protesters. Most, but not all, are now out on either police or court bail. A few have taken a caution, a few released without charge, a few remain in custody. No doubt as cops trawl cctv and photo footage in the next days & weeks there will be more arrests.

27 March picket of Charing X cop shop

If you or someone you know has been arrested and you haven’t had legal advice yet, then get it fast. Ring the legal & arrest support helpline on 07946 541 511, or if you got indpendent legal advice elsewhere contact them anyway so they have your details – they may be able to help you anyway.

At least 10 arrested as thousands wrongfoot cops in Bristol

[Update 1/12 – MP’s to vote at Parliament on the fee increases & other relevant changes on Thursday 9 December. Mass protest London & locally 9 December. Day of action against fees and cuts on 8 December. Further Bristol protests 4 and 5 December.]

Several thousand students, schoolkids and supporters marched, ran and charged around Bristol for about 5 or 6 hours today in the latest protests against rises in university fees and cuts to benefits such as EMA.

Police lines and attempts to kettle protesters were breached multiple times as the up-for-it crowd led cops a merry dance around town. At one point in mid-afternoon as the crowd surged once more into Broadmead and Carboot Circus, it seemed as if the cops just gave up for a while. However the crowd was more exhuberant and joyous, than destructive, and did not attack these temples of consumerism. Later as the numbers dwindled up near Bristol Uni, the cops tried it on and made a number of arrests, resulting in a solidarity demo outside Trinity police station. Good reports on Bristol Indymedia, keep checking their newswire. The UWE occupation continues, Bristol UNI students have an AGM coming up, and LibDem MP and pledge-breaker Stephen Williams faces a protest on Friday.