Extinction Rebellion UK Denies Being Behind Bristol Violent Protest

LONDON (Sputnik) - Extinction Rebellion UK Relationship Coordinator Anneka Sutcliffe told Sputnik on Tuesday that Sunday’s protest in Bristol against a bill that would give the police power to silence peaceful rallies was not organised by the environmental movement.

Sutcliffe argued that the violence that erupted was "symptomatic" of the government’s attempt to violate human rights.

Extinction Rebellion, whose protests in demand of more government action to tackle climate change have brought London and other UK cities to a standstill in the past, "does not condone violence" and is firmly nonviolent in its strategy and principles, Sutcliffe pointed out.

"To be clear, there were no organisers of Sunday's protest. A time and location was promoted by many different groups online and on signs around the city, but there was no plan. There was a coming together around the slogan 'Kill the Bill' which has historic reference to the 1994 protest of the Criminal Justice Bill", the climate activist said.

Several hundred people gathered in central Bristol on Sunday, protesting against the expansion of police powers at demonstrations. Protesters sprayed paint and threw objects at law enforcement officers, and set fire to police vehicles and broke the windows of a police station.

About 20 police officers were injured during the riots and two of them were hospitalised with fractures. At least seven participants in the clashes were detained, while the police said it had begun a large-scale investigation.

"If you take away the ability for people to organise protests legally and express their views, criminalising coordinators prioritising the safety of the public, then you end up with chaos", Sutcliffe said.

According to the environmental group PR officer, several crises are now converging, with people grieving death because of the COVID-19 pandemic, looking to a bleak future of climate breakdown and having their human rights challenged by the policing bill amidst economic collapse and rising poverty levels and social injustices.

"We see the rage that young people are feeling in this current context of an increasingly oppressive Government with skewed priorities around systemic injustices and a severe lack of support and education over the past year", she said.

Asked whether the Bristol riots would give the Conservative government more grounds to pass the bill, Sutcliffe said that the police already have powers to curtail violent protests, noting that the controversial proposal, which has already passed its first reading in parliament, is now aimed at cracking down peaceful, nonviolent demonstrations.