Come along to BASE Cafe for a film screening of ‘Fires and Fascism’ followed by a Q&A with director Pete Knapp – Sunday 19th October
Pay what you can vegan food from 6pm Film starts at 7pm
FIRES AND FASCISM is a new 57-min documentary shows the wildfires in Europe are more than just climate change and mismanagement. It links the increasing wildfires of Europe with past fascism, big business, organised crime, and the rise of the far right. It showcases how communities are engaging in direct action, protest, rewilding, and suppressing the rise of uncontrollable fires and the far right through direct actions.
Despite having publicly announced their decision not to hold pre-advertised demonstrations after a summer of defeat, Bristol Patriots attempted to march through Bristol City Centre on 5 October. They intended to march from the Cenotaph to College Green, a distance that would typically be a five minute stroll. As always, their racist march did not go unopposed. Racists were outnumbered by anti-fascists six to one with about 75 racists and 450 anti-fascists.
Throughout the beginning of the demonstration, the racist Bristol Patriots were outwardly well-behaved. Many of their numbers walked right into the small fenced off areas (essentially adult play pens) that the police had prepared for them beforehand and stayed close to police the entire time. They showed up wearing flags, including the Union Jack, St George Cross, the clearly artificially-generated Bristol Patriots logo and a flag for the British Movement – a national neo-nazi party that has historically been known for its hitler apologism and white power rhetoric. The inclusion of the British Movement at this demonstration is just yet another example of the racist and fascist underpinnings of the Bristol Patriots.
Yet, not all of the racists were well-behaved nor were the police interested in keeping them to their adult play pen. Various members of the Bristol Patriots’ demo wandered through the pockets of the counter-demo to try and raise tensions. These members of the demo often tried to pick fights, confident that police would once again show their allegiances by protecting racists and lashing out at anti-fascists.
As soon as the Bristol Patriots began marching, the police quickly lost control of the situation. Police had brought in a lot of numbers for the day, while the Bristol Patriots were escorted by football lads who arrived just as the march began. None of this mattered because local anti-fascists still massively outnumbered the crowd and police continued to their incompetency. By the time the march ended, racists and police alike had been chased into the furthest corner of College Green.
The rest of the demo was spent with police escorting small groups of racists out of the area for the following two hours. They were not able to retake any space, hidden behind a line of cops and a crowd of anti-fascists. For a lot of that time, one of the Bristol Patriots’ organizers, Molly Herbert, was frantically talking on the phone to someone, showing just how humiliated they had been. Once again, Bristol Patriots were chased out of the city.
Our successes here in Bristol have been no accident. Communities throughout the city have been coming together and organizing. That work is something to be proud of, especially as all of us watch racist and fascist groups grow in other areas. Every demonstration comes with new affinity groups who clearly come with their own goals for the day, which makes it easier for us to show that racists are not welcome in this city.
Racist ‘Bristol patriots’ want to rally for mass deportations’. After the recent racist attack in Bristol it is more important than ever that we make it known “racists are not welcome here!”
Let’s turn up in numbers again.
Refugees and Migrants will always be welcome in Bristol.
Share widely. Bring your friends. Wear a mask and don’t talk to cops.
We Don’t Do That Here is a one-hour audio documentary from Bristol’s community radio stations – BCfm and Ujima, weaving together multiple in-depth interviews with those who lived it: refugees inside the hotel with their children, activists and local residents on the streets, police officers, youth workers, charity leaders, journalists, and community broadcasters.
Their voices reveal the fear of that week, the courage of those who stood in solidarity, and the deep divisions that surfaced under pressure.
The entire latest edition of the Bristol Cable is on immigration and includes pieces about last years riots and interviews with Bristol Antiraids and Bristol Antifascists.
Read the full article online or pick up a free copy of this excellent local newspaper at many cool community locations across the city
“Bristol Antifascists is a non-hierarchical group opposing far-right activity at the street level. We sit down with one of them to learn about the discipline, solidarity and compassion needed for this work.”
The racists still haven’t got the message. After being defeated and humiliated last weekend, “Bristol Patriots” intend once again to sow hatred on our streets.
Their lack of numbers – and fascists’ general fear of organising in Bristol – is no accident. It is our collective strength, organisation and repeated willingness to mobilise that makes our city a bastion of antifascism.
As other hotel demonstrations across the country see a resurgence of open Nazism, we must not concede an inch to racist ideas.
