Freedom News

Squat Repression in Bristol

This is a statement from some squatters in Bristol, who had 4 squats, including 40a Space, Salvation Army mutual aid/social centres and Wonky Arrow Books, a radical library.
 In the past days, we’ve had our buildings forcibly closed with anti-social behaviour orders, and we’ve been raided by hundreds of riot police. We’ve been beaten, pepper-sprayed,

On pleading guilty

You Miserable Pleader! Thus Sid James as Mark Anthony rebukes Kenneth Conner’s grovelling Hengist Pod when he says “I plead for mercy, I plead for my life, I plead for forgiveness”. If you don’t want your court case turned into a sorry version of Carry on Cleo heed our words of wisdom below. The first

Rioting and Violent Disordering

Triple helpings of jail all-around planned for Bristol protestors. On Thursday 13th of May, eight people were charged with rioting for the “Kill The Bill” demonstration in Bristol. This is very unusual as even the most rumbustious of protests in recent times have generally had Violent Disorder as the most serious offence charged and we

Bristol cops quietly admit no officers suffered broken bones at Sunday’s Kill the Bill protest

Yesterday, Avon and Somerset police quietly admitted that no officers suffered broken bones during Sunday’s Kill The Bill protest. In a statement posted to their website, the force said: “Thankfully following a full medical assessment of the two officers taken to hospital, neither were found to have suffered confirmed broken bones.” This is quite an

Justice nowhere: Introducing Bristol Copwatch

A brick wall in Bristol. On the wall is some graffiti rendered in black spray paint: "In the US, in the UK, the police are racist everywhere: George Floyd RIP. Mark Duggan. Trevor Smith. Mike Brown"

Freedom’s resident cop-botherer, Carl Spender, sits down with John and Kat from Bristol Copwatch to discuss the group’s first year of existence and the painstaking work of building a grassroots police monitoring project. Please be aware that this article contains descriptions of racist police violence. CS: I guess it’s traditional to begin with some introductions.