News / immigration
Enhanced police powers and dispersal zone ahead of migrant hotel protest
Compassion, kindness and love will be in place in Bristol on Saturday as hundreds of people are expected to join a counter-protest against a demonstration outside a hotel housing people seeking asylum.
The counter-protest to “defend refugees” and “stop the far right” is being organised by Stand Up To Racism and is due to start at the Mercure Bristol Brigstow Hotel on Welsh Back at 11.30am.
That is 90 minutes before a planned ‘migrant hotel protest’ which a poster says is “for our children, for our future” with participants “peacefully gathering” and told to bring flags and banners.
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Avon & Somerset Police say their officers “will work to enable a peaceful and lawful protest, but we will not tolerate any hate crime or disorder, which will be dealt with robustly”.
A statement released on Friday said: “It’s important we balance the right to protest with the need to minimise disruption to our communities.
“Officers have been in regular contact with our partners and stakeholders, including community leaders, this week and we’ve been able to provide reassurance that well-tested and rehearsed policing plans are in place.”
Enhanced policing powers within the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act have been authorised and will be in place for 24 hours from 7am on Saturday to 7am on Sunday throughout much of Bristol city centre.
These section 60AA powers allow police officers to ask people to remove face coverings if they have reason to believe it is being worn “wholly or mainly” to conceal their identity.
A section 35 dispersal zone has also been authorised for the same period of time allowing police to move on groups or individuals “causing or who are likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress to others”.
Racists are not welcome in Bristol – photo: Rob Browne
Avon & Somerset Police neighbourhood policing chief inspector Serena Serjeant said the force “will always seek to enable peaceful and lawful protests but we will not tolerate any form of disorder in our communities”.
Chief inspector Serjeant said: “It is important we ensure the safety of both those participating in the protests and the wider public; this is why we have put this operation and these additional powers in place.
“In previous events of this nature, we have seen people sometimes use face coverings to hide their identities in order to commit offences.
“By pre-authorising these powers, it will allow our officers on the ground the opportunity to engage with those wearing face coverings and ask them to remove them, so we can reduce the risk of criminal offences being committed.
“We’ll continue to proactively engage with our community stakeholders and leaders with messaging which can then be shared among the communities most impacted.”
Main photo: Martin Booth
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