Barry Cades
On August 23, 2025, hundreds of anti-racists in Bristol resisted excessive police brutality and prevented fascists from the Bristol Patriots from marching toward a hotel that was providing temporary housing for asylum seekers.
A local anti-fascist is facing serious charges stemming from his participation in that successful day of anti-fascist action and now needs to raise nearly 11,000 pounds to cover legal expenses and defend himself in court.
We are seeking help to ensure that our friend and comrade can cover his legal expenses.
He has been out on police bail for nearly a year under conditions that include a ban on approaching the center of Bristol and participating in any demonstrations in England and Wales, while enduring the uncertainty and anxiety of not knowing what the authorities have in store for him next. Having recently been charged and with a trial looming, he must somehow raise 10,855 pounds over the next 5 months to pay for his legal defense. This has been a real blow and, of course, has greatly increased the stress he and his family are under. We are supporting him as best we can, alongside Bristol Antifascists and other antifascist comrades, but it is a very large sum of money to raise.
Please contribute whatever you can, share this crowdfunding campaign, and join the antifascists who are facing ever-increasing state repression and retaliation. These legal attacks and threats of punishment by the state are intended to isolate and disable us. Let’s support one another and show this comrade that he is not alone!
Any funds raised above the goal will go directly toward supporting other anti-racists and anti-fascists who are being dragged through the courts for standing on the right side of history.
The Repression of the Anti-Fascist Movement in Bristol
Despite the massive operation by the Avon and Somerset Police and their aggressive attempts to force the fascist march through on August 23, 2025, they failed. We stood united, blocked the road, and prevented yet another hate-filled demonstration and another attack on vulnerable people who were simply seeking a safe place to live.
It was an incredible demonstration of what we can achieve together through collective courage, determination, and solidarity—and a magnificent example of how to carry on our city’s proud tradition of effective anti-fascism.
The police violence directed at our comrades that day was brutal and resulted in numerous injuries and serious trauma. As always, the police enjoy impunity, while we face lengthy legal proceedings and the threat of jail for daring to resist.
In recent years, the police have been particularly aggressive toward the anti-fascist movement in Bristol, all while protecting the sparsely attended marches of fascists demanding what they call “re-emigration” (or repatriation).
In addition to arrests, disproportionate penalties, and fines against activists, the police have employed an unusual level of violence, including an investigation into the connection between the crackdown and the death of an anti-fascist, Nicholas Stone (65), who died on his way home after being pushed by police during a protest in downtown Bristol on January 10, 2026..
Furthermore, the police employ tactics against anti-fascist protests, such as kettling demonstrators and surveillance, taking advantage of increasingly draconian state powers.
Historical Context of British Fascism
Bristol Patriots was founded in 2015, following the Great British National Protest, one year after the violent racist riots in the UK.
It is associated with Britain First, a fascist party formed in 2011 by former members of the British National Party (BNP) and registered with the British Electoral Commission in 2014 as the National People’s Party, although it has not had much electoral success.
Britain First is Islamophobic and conducts campaigns primarily against British Muslims and multiculturalism, which take the form of what they call “Christian patrols” and raids on British mosques. It has an armed wing, the Britain First Defense Force.
Britain First had a significant presence on social media, but in 2015 Facebook temporarily suspended its account, and suspended it permanently in 2018, and in 2017 Twitter did the same due to “hate speech.” Ironically, Britain First labeled Facebook as fascist.
As we’ve mentioned, Britain First seeks to fill the void left by the British National Party (BNP)—the far-right party with the greatest electoral success in British history—the National Front (NF), and the Independence Party (UKIP). It was founded in 1982 by former members of the NF and reached its peak in the 2000s, winning more than fifty seats on city councils, one seat in the London Assembly, and two seats in the European Parliament. But it subsequently lost momentum and has had no elected representatives at any level and has been virtually inactive since 2019. Its armed wing was Combat 18 (a reference to Adolf Hitler). Combat 18 is responsible for the deaths of immigrants, people of color, left-wing activists, and even members of its own group.
Prior to the BNP, the National Front (NF) was founded in 1967, by bringing together various fascist groups. BNP reached its peak electoral success in the mid-1970s and briefly becoming the fourth-largest party in England. At that time, as now, it focused on immigration—which at the time was primarily from Asia. It managed to win a few city council seats but never had any representatives elected to the British Parliament or the European Parliament.
The Independence Party (UKIP) is a far-right party that tapped into the Euroskeptic sentiment that led to Brexit in 2016, eventually becoming the British party with the largest representation in the European Parliament. After Brexit, its leader, Farage, resigned, and the party faded into obscurity.
But the origins of British fascism can be traced back to its heyday, a period contemporary with Hitler and Mussolini—or with Primo de Rivera—when Sir Oswald Mosley, who served as a member of Parliament for both the Conservatives and even the Labour Party, founded the British Union of Fascists (BUF) in 1932.
Throughout all those years, fascism has faced active opposition in the UK dating back to 1936, when anti-fascists erected barricades to prevent the BUF from marching through East London, a predominantly Jewish area. This is known as the Battle of Cable Street, an icon of British anti-fascism. (Coincidentally, Cable Street is located in the borough of Tower Hamlets, which has since become an area with a majority Asian population. Ironically, it was one of the areas where the BNP won its only council seat, which later led to confrontations and racial riots.)
As in Cable Street then, people keep on facing fascism nowadays in Bristol too.
