Extinction Rebellion host Kill The Bill protest through Bristol City Centre

Bristol’s branch of the global environmental movement Extinction Rebellion (XR) marched through the City Centre today in protest against the new Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill.

The city has now seen over seven individual protests against the Bill, as well as one riot where the windows of Bridewell police station were smashed and a police van was set on fire.

Young families, the elderly and XR Youth members came out today and protested together peacefully.

Police accompanied the march, with a police car blocking traffic from behind and two officers walking with the group.

They marched from Castle Park with banners and placards to Bridewell Police Station where they sat, blocked traffic and wrote messages in chalk on the road.

Chants of “Whose planet? Our planet!”, “No protest, no future” and “This is what democracy looks like”, a familiar chant from the last seven protests, rung out from the crowd.

One angry motorist confronted the group and accused them of causing more pollution by hosting the protest and holding up traffic.

XR Youth member Poppy said in a press release from XR: “As young people, we are exhausted by trying to fight for a liveable future whilst also fighting a government that would see us imprisoned for doing just that

“The continuous attempts to silence us will only push us to fight harder for our rights as well as the rights of anyone who feels let down by the current system.”

In previous protests XR activists have taken divisive action to campaign for the environment, including camping on top of Bristol City Hall, and locking themselves to the Clifton Suspension Bridge.

Initially, XR had planned to host a sit-down protest blocking Park Street, but a group vote decided that they would end with a picnic on College Green instead. Amongst the voters was a police officer, who raised their hand for the picnic.

For more footage, check our The Bristol Tab’s instagram story 

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