Bristol: ‘Burn Baby Burn!’

By: fawda - March 22nd, 2021  Filed under: Communique, News

The chant goes up into the air as the flames of the cop van rise higher and higher, burning away a pressure that has been building for far too long.
The cop station’s windows are kicked in to the roaring joy of the crowd, its raining rocks from above on the riot cops from youths who’ve occupied part of its roof. Repeated attacks on the cop lines are visibly putting the fear into them. Bottles rain down on the cop dog unit’s failed attempt to assault the mob from behind. Riot shields and batons liberated from the cops are used to fight back, a piece of their own medicine. Others are caring for people sprayed with mace, while sound systems ring out. Another cop car is burning round the corner, this is like nothing we have seen before…

This is the scene in Bristol in 2021, 10 years since the Stokes Croft & August riots in 2011. The riot that erupted last night was a continuation of our combative memories, but from seeing so many new young uncontrollables it is the beginning of a new wave. Nothing much has changed on this prison island since 2011, if anything the conditions that led to those days are still with us, more repressive than ever. We’re being pushed over the edge, as the system of control demands either lick the boot or have our way of life extinguished. [Read More]

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Bristol: Picton Lane site resists eviction

By: fawda - November 11th, 2020  Filed under: News

Last week Freedom reported that the Picton Lane site in Bristol was facing eviction after having been given a notice to leave. The notice was not a court order and was delivered only a day into the lockdown 2.0. Picton Lane site is a home to a number travellers & friends.

The current government lockdown guidelines state that evictions mustn’t happen unless it is a case of “emergency”. There is no emergency on Picton Lane: the owner of the site has been applying, unsuccessfully, for a planning permission since 2017, and the decision to evict people from here during the covid pandemic is more than inexplicable.

Below, we publish a short report from Picton Lane residents, who resisted the illegal eviction attempt with the support from others.

Awake most of the night, we were pleasantly surprised to see supporters begin arriving as early as 5am. However, the bailiffs were not so keen. Even police reacted quicker, with a few officers coming down at around 7.10am. [Read More]

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Bristol: urgent call for support to resist site eviction

By: fawda - November 8th, 2020  Filed under: Communique, News

Freedom received the following call-out from the people living in the Picton Lane site in Bristol. If you are able, support them tomorrow, 9th November, in resisting illegal eviction. Pass it on.
We are a group of travellers & friends currently residing on a site in Picton Lane, Montpelier, Bristol, in caravans. Just one day into the second lockdown, we were given a notice to leave by tomorrow morning, 7am by Andrew Wilson & Co bailiffs. The notice was NOT a court order and even included a spelling mistake.
The owner of the land we are on has been applying for permission to build apartment & offices there for years, with applications going back to 2017. We are sure these would not be affordable flats and locals oppose them. All of these applications have been rejected. The land has been staying empty for years, excluding another group of vehicle dwellers who were evicted about 18 months ago.
The current government lockdown guidelines state that evictions mustn’t happen unless it is a case of “emergency”. We don’t think this situation is an emergency at all. No planning permission has been accepted and we have just started a second lockdown. Criminal cases fall under “emergency” in these guidelines, however, this is a civil matter.
We seek support on the day, 7am and earlier, as we expect the bailiffs to be aggressive. We feel we must resist and that our demands should be met: 1. To have contact with the owner 2. To be allowed to remain until the end of lockdown and 3. If an eviction must happen, we want it to be done via proper means aka via a court order. [Read More]

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London: Squatter’s Digest, Greece

By: fawda - July 30th, 2019  Filed under: News

Greece, the home of democracy. And molotov cocktails. They also enjoy regular cocktail nights to raise money for the squats and imprisoned anarchists. It’s one thing to know what is going on inside the UK with regards to squats, but I feel we are severely lacking in communication with squats across Europe, or indeed the world. Hopefully I can bring to you some of the news from some of the squats in Greece along with the usual round-up of news from London and beyond.

Setting The Scene

A quick explanation of how the law works in Greece, from a meeting I had with a lawyer personally involved in one of the local neighbourhood squats. Unlike in the UK, squatting is a criminal rather than civil matter. It is based around a few points in the penal code, such as breaching someone’s right to asylum in their own house, or disturbing the community. However the police cannot act unless a complaint is made by the owner to the state prosecutor, who then instructs the police to enforce it. For public buildings there is a bit of a loophole in the penal code dating back to 1938, and a lot of squats in Greece fall into a kind of “hybrid” category, meaning the prosecutor is less likely to take action unless pushed by the local government. However as of the 1st of July this year, the penalties have gone up in accordance with the introduction of a new penal code. What were simple misdemeanours for resisting can now be classified as heavier breaches of law, and can see a jail-term of 3 years, up from the previous maximum of 1 year. Interestingly this was introduced at the same time as the reduction of a lot of other penalties, prompting outrage from other parties. In any case this was the doing of Syriza, and with the election on July 7th, the conservative New Democracy is back in power, so things can be expected to only get worse (more on this later). [Read More]

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Bristol: Operation Rhone and the Badger hunt

By: dolph-l - March 5th, 2015  Filed under: News

Note: Since this article was published Bristol anarchist Emma Sheppard was sentenced to 2 years in prison in relation to criminal damage of police cars, as part of Operation Rhone. See letter from Em for more info.

When Bristol anarchist Huw ‘Badger’ Norfolk legged it somewhere in late-August 2011, word spread fast across Bristol’s anarchist & radical communities. His decision to absent himself from all and any police investigations was immediately apparent to the many friends he’d had no time to say good-bye to. No doubt many suspected this escape to somewhere would be short-lived. Instead nothing, just the one shout-out from online anonymity(1) two months later, in which he stated his non-compliance bluntly.

Fast-forwards to December 2014 and Badger’s face is staring at us from every national and many local media outlets. Crimestoppers and Avon & Somerset Police’s Operation Rhone announce a £10k reward for information, whilst forcing his parents in north-west Bristol into the media spotlight too(2). Badger is wanted for two specific actions, although no evidence is cited for either. It’s made clear the Badger hunt, and the two actions, are just a part of their investigation into over 100 actions by ‘persons unknown’(3) over the last four years. [Read More]

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UK: Why did the Bristol Stokes Croft Riot Happen? A Community-Based View of Events

By: fawda - April 30th, 2011  Filed under: News, video

Why did the Bristol Stokes Croft Riot Happen? A Community-Based View of Events (April Bank Holiday, 2011)
We attempt to tell the story of what happened through the eyes of local people building up a picture of the chain of events which led to a riot close to the centre of Bristol. As well as testament filmed over the subsequent days we also include footage from the unrest. We also hope this will help in the understanding of why it happened.
https://vimeo.com/22968797

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Bristol riots: Police tactics questioned after second night of violence in Stokes Croft

By: fawda - April 30th, 2011  Filed under: News

Questions are being asked as to why a peaceful protest descended into violence on Thursday night in Stokes Croft.

From around 9pm onwards crowds had gathered for a previously-cancelled protest against alleged police brutality during the riots a week earlier before violence broke out at around 1am.

Protesters stood outside the Telepathic Heights squat – the scene of a police raid which sparked last week’s violence – playing music while several police vans waited cautiously nearby.

According to police reports, mounted officers and riot police moved in at around 1am after a small group began throwing bottles at officers. [Read More]
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Bristol (UK) – Stokes Croft Riot after massive police raid against Telepathic Heights squat

By: liberation - April 26th, 2011  Filed under: News

Stokes Croft Riot after massive police raid against Telepathic Heights squat

April 21, 2011. 10pm. A riot starts after a 160 strong multi-regional police force coordinated assault shuts down a district and breaks down the door of a squat named ‘Telepathic Heights’ in Bristol.

The cops then violently harass local people and get attacked in return. Telepathic Heights is in the busy cultural area of Stokes Croft, Bristol, where there are many bars, cafes, squats, community projects, etc. 300 people fight the police for hours and hours in response to the police occupation of the neighbourhood. A corporate supermarket is looted and destroyed, whilst none of the other (independently-owned) shops on the streets are touched in the disturbance.

[Read More]

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Bristol: Update on Classics and Emporium

By: fawda - April 19th, 2011  Filed under: Communique, News

We’re still going!

Possession has been granted to Jerwood Trading Ltd from the 5th of May 2011. This means that bailiffs can arrive with the lawyers of Jerwood at any time from that date. They plan to auction off the buildings through the auctioneers Maggs and Allen.

Meanwhile we are in negotiations with the lawyers of Jerwood with a view to buying the property off them. We have formed a legal co-op that will administrate it all. The last valuation of the buildings was negative£100,000, which puts us in quite a good position. People seem to want the freeshop and emporium to keep going so this is an avenue we are hoping will succeed. [Read More]

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Bristol: Emporium and Classics still alive and well

By: fawda - February 14th, 2011  Filed under: Communique, News

Update on legal threat to 35/37 Stokes Croft

People that know and use the spaces have been asking for an update on the legal situation with 35/37 Stokes Croft so we’d thought we’d get a little summary out.
We are still going! There are exhibitions and events coming up at the emporium and the free shop continues its regular opening times of Thursday to Saturady 2pm-5pm.

Our next court appearance will be Thursday 7th of April.

We haven’t actually spoken to any ‘owner’, even their lawyers laugh at the fact that he/she might not exist. The claim in court is that the owners are Hong Kong businessmen, and company records have been produced to attempt to confirm this. We have attempted to speak to them but there has been no reply. Only through an estate agents (Maggs and Allen) and a law firm (Awdry, Douglas and Bailey) have we ascertained more information, which is not wholely reliable as they are trying to make money out of an abandoned building and have been trying every trick in the book to make a quick buck. Here’s updates on what’s happened so far. [Read More]

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UK: Squat Crackdown, Bristol Fashion

By: fawda - November 11th, 2010  Filed under: News

Autonomous society in Bristol is under serious threat as eviction faces the Stokes Croft Free Shop and Emporium, Frowning Motorcycle events space, Smiling Chair anarchist library, and three other squat houses. In a move that will effectively mean making 60-70 people homeless, the bailiffs have been getting busy all around Stokes Croft.

The anarchist library was hit by ‘heavies’ on Monday 8th,who started putting metal sheeting over doors and windows whilst people were still inside. The illegal bailiffs were quickly dispatched by the coppers, having been called in by the occupants, for attempting to imprison the squatters inside. Later the same night the Frowning Motorcycle events space, which is also home to 5 people, was targeted by more illegal bailiffs trying to crowbar their way in. Luckily, the space was secure and they left without gaining access. [Read More]

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