Protestors were met with opposition. (Image: BristolLive)
Police on horseback have clashed with anti-racism counter-protestors during the “Bristol Patriots” on Saturday afternoon. The demonstration began at 12.15pm with around 40 people meeting at the Cenotaph in the city. Hundreds of counter-protestors also gathered as part of the anti-racism-anti-fascism coalition, chanting as the other group marched around Broadmead.
A heavy police presence was there to escort the crowd, resulting in officers blocking Union Street with vans, lines of officers, and police on horseback at around 12.30pm. Violence broke out at police tried to hold back the counter-protestors and allow the other group to pass into Haymarket, with officers seen pushing and shoving the group.
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Who are the Bristol Patriots?
The Bristol Patriots became active in the summer of 2025, around the same time as the Raise the Colours movement spread.
One of its early moves was to write to almost every school in the city, threatening to take some kind of action over school involvement with the City of Sanctuary project in Bristol.
Most schools ignored the letters, but one headteacher responded, condemning it as a “morally reprehensible far-Right campaign”.
They then began coordinating protests outside a number of places where hotels have been converted to house asylum seekers, occurring regularly throughout the late summer and autumn of 2025.
In November, they held a rally at the Cenotaph before a march to College Green. They ran into counter-protesters on either side of St Augustine’s Parade outside the Hippodrome, before being herded by police for their own safety into a fenced-off area of College Green.
In January, the group again gathered at the Cenotaph, and around 40-50 protesters marched around Broadmead under heavy police escort.
The same month, the official Bristol Patriots Facebook account said it would support a foreign power launching military action against the UK and its Government.
Police ‘face resistance’
Avon and Somerset Constabulary said they faced resistance and used horses, batons and “dispersal tactics” to move the march forward.
‘Bemused’ shoppers come across march
Shoppers stopped to watch the protest earlier.
Crowds begin to disperse
The crowds have started to slowly disperse, BristolLive reports, who have reporters on scene.
How did the violence unfold?
Scenes became violent as police tried to hold back the hundreds of counter-protestors and let the Bristol Patriots pass into Haymarket.
Police were seen pushing and shoving the alliance near Primark so they could get through.
Officers on horseback used batons to strike some of the counter-protesters and push them back at the Horsefair.
Police form human wall
Police formed a human wall across Union Street in Broadmead as the rival protest groups reached a stand-off.
Hundreds of counter-protestors gathered
Hundreds of people gathered earlier today in defiance of the Bristol Patriots march, as part of an anti-racism-anti-fascism coalition.
March redirected amid clashes
Avon and Somerset Police said: “Due to increasing tensions on Penn Street, officers took the decision to redirect the march back towards St Augustine’s Parade.
“The protest group has now arrived back at the Cenotaph and officers are working to keep the protest and counter-protest sides separate.”
Welcome to our coverage
Good afternoon and welcome to our coverage of the Bristol Patriots march. Stay tuned for all the latest updates.
