Emeute anti-TESCO à Bristol – 21-22 avril 2011

Latest creation: Banksy has launched a new poster of a lit petrol bomb in a Tesco Value bottle – with profits being donated to help legal costs for those arrested during the Bristol riots. The artist will put the work up for sale just days after bloody battles over a new Tesco Express in the Stokes Croft area of Bristol – his home city. It is believed profits from the £5 poster will go towards funding the legal defence for more than 30 rioters arrested following the two nights of violence.

The battle of Tesco: Riot police bombarded and shop petrol-bombed as 160 officers swoop on house to arrest FOUR squatters

Daily mail

By CHRIS GREENWOOD

22nd April 2011

160 officers fight running battles in street with 300 protesters
Rioters attack controversial Tesco shop with firebombs and baseball bats
Police pelted with cobblestones dug up from road

Hundreds of protesters have stormed a controversial Tesco store only days after it opened, causing tens of thousands of pounds worth of damage and injuring eight police officers.

It came after police had raided a nearby squat at the centre of a campaign against the supermarket giant.

They arrested four people suspected of plotting a firebomb attack on the new shop, provoking more than seven hours of violent unrest as more than 300 protesters spilled on to the streets.

Several officers were injured in clashes with gangs of masked youths who were armed with bottles, bricks and other makeshift weapons.

One eyewitness described the riot, in which police vehicles were looted and burning barricades erected at street junctions, as ‘pure and utter carnage’.

At the centre of the unrest was a new Tesco Express in the Stokes Croft area of central Bristol. The shop became the 18th branch in the city when it opened its doors last Friday in the face of local opposition.

Rioters hurled chairs and bricks and tried to set fire to the glass-fronted store while two security guards were trapped inside. A hoard of petrol bombs were earlier recovered from a notorious squat opposite known locally as ‘Telepathic Heights’. The building, which is covered from top to bottom in brightly coloured murals, has ‘No Tesco in Stokes Croft’ painted across one wall. Read more…

Nine cops hurt as 300 rioters smash up new Tesco store

Daily Mirror

by Laurie Hanna, Daily Mirror 23/04/2011

Nine police officers were injured yesterday as 300 rioters stormed a controversial new Tesco store.

Around 160 cops were involved in a seven-hour street battle as protesters hurled cobblestones and bottles. Eight people were arrested for public order offences and dozens were hurt in the scuffles.

Trouble began after police acting on a tip-off swooped on a house occupied by squatters.

They are said to have seized petrol bombs meant for an attack on the nearby Tesco Express, which opened last week in Stokes Croft, Bristol. But an angry mob gathered, pelting police before attacking the store, causing tens of thousands of pounds’ damage.

Amateur film maker Alice von Kohler, 25, said: “People were shouting, ‘These are our streets, go home’, and throwing bottles and missiles at officers.

“I was hit with a baton and pushed with a shield. I saw a man get knocked over. He hit his head and there was a lot of blood. It was scary, people were really angry.” Primary school teacher Nick Jones, 27, said: “Stokes Croft has its own identity and few large stores. People don’t feel that Tesco fits in at all.

“There seemed to be two separate groups – the protesters and some dressed like ninjas with scarves over their faces. I saw one guy carrying a saw.

“The atmosphere was very hostile. People were angry about the store and the police.

“Between 2.30am and 4.30am there were bottles and rocks being thrown. I saw a police officer get hit in the face and go down. It was a full scale riot.” Read more…