Police under fire for ‘hitting’ reporter at Bristol protest

Police move in on ‘Kill the Bill’ protesters in Bristol.
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John Dunne @jhdunne27 March 2021

Police have been criticised for their treatment of a reporter during violent clashes between officers and protesters at a demonstration in Bristol on Friday night.

Daily Mirror journalist Matthew Dresch shared video footage on Twitter that appeared to show police pushing him and hitting him with a baton as he shouted that he was a member of the press.

He said: “Police assaulted me at the Bristol protest even though I told them I was from the press. I was respectfully observing what was happening and posed no threat to any of the officers.”

Twitter users described the incident as “outrageous” and “appalling”. Avon and Somerset police said that they were “making efforts to contact” Mr Dresch.

In a tweet the force said: “We’re aware of a video showing a journalist being confronted by officers during last night’s protest in Bristol. We’re making efforts to contact him. A free press is a cornerstone of our democracy & we fully respect the media’s vital role in reporting events fairly & accurately.”

Labour MP Nadia Whittome called for an investigation into the policing of the demonstrations.

“Reports of protesters and journalists injured last night in Bristol. The case for an independent investigation into the policing of the #BristolProtests is clear,” she tweeted.

Two reporters from the Bristol Cable were also reportedly assaulted by police during protests earlier in the week.

There have been a series of protests in Bristol against the police, crime, sentencing and courts bill, which would give police in England and Wales more power to impose conditions on peaceful protests, including those deemed too noisy or a nuisance.

Critics argue this stifles on the right to free and peaceful expression and has led to a protest movement under the slogan “kill the bill”.

There have been other complaints of officers being heavy handed with the press.

On Tuesday, Adam Cantwell-Corn and Alon Aviram of the Cable said they were threatened with force by a police officer while covering the protest. The officer in question ordered them to leave, appeared to push them and denied that they were journalists.

“Press card fully on show, Just got threatened with dogs and force by an officer despite telling him we are journalists. A senior officer later stepped in to tell him to back off,” Cantwell-Corn tweeted at the time.

In the video the officers tell the reporters to disperse, to which they replied: “We’re journalists and we’re covering your actions.”

The officer said: “No you’re not,” and despite the reporters showing press cards and saying they were accredited members of the National Union of Journalists, later said “it doesn’t matter if you claim to be journalists because you’re studying journalism”.

Aviram later said that a “high-ranking officer with Avon and Somerset has now extended apologies for this incident”.

Meanwhile, Boris Johnson has condemned the clashes between demonstrators and police in Bristol as “disgraceful”.

Avon and Somerset police said glass bottles, bricks and eggs were thrown at officers. Fireworks were also launched at its mounted division, the force claimed, with one horse being daubed with paint. Ten people were arrested, three of whom had also been detained at similar demonstrations last Sunday.

“Our officers should not have to face having bricks, bottles and fireworks being thrown at them by a mob intent on violence and causing damage to property,” the prime minister tweeted.

Johnson added that the “police and the city have my full support”.

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