The scene of a Police Station being deliberately attacked and the news that several policemen were injured when a large group of some 500 plus demonstrators broke away and started causuing other damage setting vans alight shocked the nation.
The right to peaceful protest is an essential part of a democratic society. These can take the form of marches, pickets, vigils or stationary events to draw attention to issues of concern of those who take part but there is no right commit violence and attack property or the police who are there just to keep order. Most demonstrations are peaceful but there are those who seek to exploit the situation.
The Bristol branch of the Solidarity Federation have produced a mealy mouthed statement full of half truths , lies and distortions which is summed up in their final sentence:
Some things for Bristolians to remember tonight:
There was a vigil for a victim of police violence in London last week. It was peaceful. The police attacked it anyway.
Tonight we saw police with batons attacking a peaceful crowd. The only reason this turned into a riot is because people fought back.
If you're worried about violent protesters but not police violence then you're doing the cop's work for them.
If you blame protesters for the violence that the police inflict on the public, then you're blaming the victims.
It's not a fair fight when one side uses stones and fireworks and the other uses batons and tear gas. "demonstrators clashed with police" is media speak for "armed people attacked an unarmed crowd".
If you only support a cause on the condition that activists are well-behaved then you don't really support that cause.
Politics is about power, not popularity. Winning public support is meaningless when our enemies don't even listen to the public.
They can ignore a protest. They can't ignore this.
We chose to be combatants, not victims. Fuck the police.
In co-operation with other such groups these people set out to cause a violent confrontation. There words were clear and serve as a warning that these anarchists, autonomists and nihilists are not interested in a peaceful road to change. They have chosen the most authoritarian method possible in a democratic society, that of violence.
These people have their supporters in the traditional left. Kerry-Anne Mendoza called the Labour Mayor of Bristol a "scab" for condemning the violence. A group called the "Young Socialists" also condemned the riot and were fingered as "scabs".
Well I've news for these people having seen first had their actions in on the Pensions march a few years back when we saw these so-called "anarchists" tool up.put masks on and attack banks and shops as we marched to defend our hard won rights. The violence not only put ordinary trade union members in my branch off attending marches but also frightened some of the women who were with us.
These macho-masked extremists are the real scabs.
Like the Pensions march they hijacked a march to defend the right to protest. On both occasions the anarchists and their allies have undermined the struggles of ordinary working people.
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