Nottingham Post

Groups to stage ‘peaceful protest’

‘KILL THE BILL’ EVENT FOR CITY

- By MATT JARRAM matthew.jarram@reachplc.com @Mattjarram­1

A PROTEST organiser has defended plans to hold a demonstrat­ion against a controvers­ial new Bill this weekend in the wake of the violent Bristol riots which saw officers seriously injured.

Next Gen Movement, which also hosted a Black Lives Matter event last year where more than 4,000 people attended, is behind the event.

It is planned for Saturday from 4pm at Forest Recreation Ground.

People have been asked to attend the protest at the weekend with a “mask, placards and something to bang”.

In Bristol, thousands gathered in the first major protest against the Government’s Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill.

Similarly to the Bristol demonstrat­ion, the Nottingham event poster uses the slogan “Kill The Bill” – a reference to attempts to kill off controvers­ial proposals that would give police forces and the Home Secretary increased powers to stop protests.

The protest is also against “police violence and gendered violence”.

Police have not been informed by the organisers about the protest in advance.

It is set to still go ahead despite a number of police officers being seriously injured at the Bristol protest, with police cars being set alight and a police station being trashed.

Janelle Brown, one of a number of organisers, said that around eight organisati­ons across the city had come together to create the “peaceful” protest this weekend.

She said Forest Rec had been chosen as it is a place that many women felt unsafe to walk by or through late at night and it went well with the “Reclaim the Streets” message.

She told the Post: “Last time we had 4,000 people and it was a very peaceful protest.

“This is also about reclaiming the streets – about women feeling safe – and it is being led by women. There has been about eight organisati­ons coming together.

“It is about women getting their voices heard and we will be having speakers sharing their stories and we are welcoming families and children.

“Forest Rec is a place that at night time women do not feel safe there.

“We are also protesting for ‘Kill the Bill’ which is taking away our human rights to protest.

“We really don’t know how many will turn up but it is not about numbers, it is about raising awareness.”

She said “Nottingham is a different city” to Bristol and organisers were “pushing for a peaceful protest”.

She added: “Nottingham­shire Police are different to what we have seen with the Met Police. We have not spoken to them yet but they have always been supportive.” She said it felt like “the right time to do it”.

Police and Crime Commission­er Paddy Tipping said the scenes in Bristol were “disturbing”. He said: “I don’t think we will see the same in Nottingham. “We know Next Gen really well and they are a thoughtful organisati­on. I am sure we can come to arrangemen­ts that are satisfacto­ry. The police view is it should not take place but I think it will take place so it will be policed in a thoughtful and profession­al way. We would prefer it did not go ahead but we hope it will be peaceful, thoughtful and respectful.”

Last time we had 4,000 people and it was a very peaceful protest Janelle Brown

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United Kingdom