Standing for Women Bristol

[axolotlfloof]

Anyone going to College Green this afternoon for the rally?
I am hoping to if I am feeling better - crappy cold, and hope the weather holds.

I hope SFW pursue Bristol police and get answers on the inadequate policing.

its just depressing

Failure to address racism within our ranks has long been a problem in FWR, this incident is just one in a long line of many.

You might find this thread in Feminism Chat interesting.

www.mumsnet.com/talk/feminism/4531682-why-do-lots-of-black-women-still-feel-that-feminism-is-nit-for-them

I read it at the time, Obgins. Very depressing, and for me educational.

That said, I don't think it's effective to pull back from FWR because of it. FWR also educated me about various brilliant feminists of colour, and additional issues faced by women of colour that I hadn't been aware of. It's not perfect, but neither is it past redemption. While it isn't the job of women of colour to educate everyone else, we learn by working together not by boycotting each other. Anyway, diversion, sorry.

I had a great time at the Standing for Women event, although it was noisier more intimidating and colder (weather) than I was expecting.
The man on the right in this photo was approaching and harassing women before the event started, getting in their faces.
He stunk of alcohol.
I thought Kellie-Jay Keen was amazing, brave and unflappable.
The Speakers were great.
If you get a chance watch the young black woman, who tells the transactivists who are shouting her down, that they can't throw the word racism around like they do transphobic.
We know trees are transphobic, women are transphobic, everything is transphobic, but you don't get to redefine racism.

I think the men in masks showed up transactivism and its "allies" and they were a great contrast with the dignified and intelligent women who spoke.

The guy with the Suck my dick sign ... When you use the language of a rapist, don't be surprised if women assume you are a rapist.

This is good on the police failure:

capx.co/a-mob-threatening-women-is-not-a-protest-and-police-in-bristol-should-have-known-that/

Been trying to piece together thoughts on the policing - they were the same at the Jam Jar back in 2018, they stood back and women were on their own.

Since then TRAs have targeted every single women's rights event in Bristol - the police have no excuse for not being prepared. Iris from SFW liaised with them for weeks:

mobile.twitter.com/EcuadorianMum/status/1538584055918247936

I think similarly to way the police responded to the murder of Stephen Lawrence and exposure of the insitutional racism at the Met with the unlawful non crime hate stuff (obviously that worked brilliantly and the Met is now 100% racism free), the Bristol version is that in order to atone for repeatedly tasering elderly black men in Easton, A and S police let a load of middle class white kids chuck the Colston statue in the harbour.
(A jury acquitted the ‘Colston 4’ so we don’t know their deliberations, but interestingly one of the arguments in their defence was that the Colston statue itself was an offence under section 5 of the public order act and therefore they were preventing crime.
Section 5: displays any writing, sign or other visible representation which is threatening, abusive or insulting, within the hearing or sight of a person likely to be caused harassment, alarm or distress thereby.
As discussed in the capx article above, ‘suck my dick’ clearly meets this).

Anyway, the Colston statue logic is - this is unlawful > but I am right and my cause is just > I will break the law. The police tacitly endorse this and are widely praised for avoiding escalation. (Avoiding escalation on that occasion. The March 2021 Kill the Bill riots see burning police cars, violence, etc).

Sometimes that is indeed the case. But the problem is that anyone can apply that logic - eg a neo-Nazi wanting to deface murals honouring the Carribean community in St Pauls. My guess is that in that context there would not be tacit police endorsement. Great, except now you have the police making policing decisions based on the political motivations of offenders rather than universally enforcing the law.

So Sunday’s lot (who have previous) are following the same logic - its unlawful to harrass and threaten women and try to stop them meeting > but i am right to oppose bad trfs > I will break the law. They explicitly say they are following the same logic when they say we’re next in the harbour after Colston. This is tacitly endorsed by the police and the thugs know it. Well. not tacitly really - on numerous occasions the police have flown the exact same flag as the thugs, and arrested peaceful ‘trfs’.

TLDR - obvious escalation > ignored because police are political > more escalation > ignored > more escalation > ignored > more escalation

I just hope they sort it out before a woman is seriously hurt.

I think in the twitter thread linked above, someone stated they were submitting a FOI for the force’s Threat and Risk Assessment for the event. Someone else suggested submitting a claim for compensation from the police. Seems fair, I believe they'd paid a deposit to use the pub which was ordered to close. Perhaps the publican would have grounds to claim compensation. I hope we've not heard the last of this, the Police has questions to answer and, imo, humble pie to eat.

Good Icake.

The PCC has made his own statement:

www.avonandsomerset-pcc.gov.uk/news/2022/06/pcc-statement-protests-on-college-green-bristol/

PCC for Avon and Somerset, Mark Shelford, said: “I am aware there was an event on College Green, Bristol, on Sunday involving the gathering of a women’s group and a counter protest that took place in relation to this event.

“The job of the police is to facilitate protest, in an impartial way, while prioritising the safety of those in attendance and maintaining public order.

“On balance, the event appeared to pass without any major incident and I thank the officers who were there to keep the public safe.

“I am getting a lot of contact, through email and social media, about the level of police presence and their response to some of the actions of people from both groups.

“I will be seeking assurances from the Chief Constable regarding the approach to the policing on the day, as well as ensuring that there are appropriate and proportionate responses to any incidents or complaints that were reported to Avon and Somerset Police after the event.”

Final para of the Capx article I posted above:

"Meanwhile, if newly appointed Chief Constable Sarah Crew wants to start policing Bristol like Portland that’s going to be a headache for all its citizens, but in particular for Tory Policing and Crime Commissioner Mark Shelford. Impunity never rests."

Is that the benchline for success? No deaths or major injuries.

It's the logic of the abuser isn't it.

Bristol Anarchist Federation's account of the event is hilarious. Apparently they had a gazebo and a stall with cakes and stickers and the space then doubled up as a "sanctuary" for those triggered by the "noise and tension" of the demo. Honestly no wonder these people pick on women, imagine how they would cope if faced with actual fascists.

afed.org.uk/bristol-19-06/

I have a friend who was in the AF who left following the treatment of Helen Steel at the Anarchist Bookfair in 2017 and the misogynistic attitude towards her and other women who had the "wrong" view in relation to sex and gender.

Top tip; if anarchists are spamming your comments, ask them to comment on spycops and Helen Steel. Post a link. They'll make an excuse to mute or block you in a heartbeat, usually by declaring Helen (and therefore you by association) an Un Person.
Its almost as if the head honchos don't want the newbies to learn the lessons of the past, or something.

You are right. Considering the Spycops scandal was the most significant thing to affect the anarchist scene in the last 50 years or so. An actual example of police corruption / racism / misogyny that actually affected these activist groups directly and in real life. You would think the Anarchist Federation would be all over the Spycops inquiry like a rash. It should have given them a focus for their campaigns for years. But because one of the women involved is considered to be a "TERF" they never mention it. There is no mention of it on the AF's website or their Twitter account. It's as if these heinous actions by the police never happened. Makes you wonder what the point of them is.

That would be soooo hard though, and take decades of dogged persistence in the face of institutional resistance....yuck, shouting at women is much more fun!

Hmm. You have to wonder how deeply penetrated the anarchists are by MI5. Look how many old Revolutionary Communist Party heads are now Tories. Or writing for the Express. Or in the Lords.

Well the is an interesting take. KJK, "professional far right grifter" arranged for people to act like aggressive, intimidating TRA's to make TRA's look bad.

Hmm at least we agree the optics of aggressive, masked men intimidating women aren't good. Progress of sorts?

Do you think that person genuinely believe that?

Now that IS the definition of stupid!!

Do you think that person genuinely believe that?

Now that IS the definition of stupid!!

Hard to know really. They believe women can have penises so I wouldn't rule it out. 😂

That's not a dead cat. A dead cat is another announcement / policy / activity, not one of those but purposely faked.

Oh we’ve got a new definition of stupid all right

its under jem roberts in the dictionary

My basic Russian is suggesting that the boy is a Stalin fan. What a little charmer.

It's really annoying how Kelly J is treated. I mean I know she's not everyone's cup of tea but she's a brilliant activist and campaigner and I can't understand why the people who don't like her don't just ignore her.