Illustration: Alex Dimond
On 3 August this year, Ebrima Jadama joined hundreds of anti-fascist counter-demonstrators who took a stand against extremist far-right violence that unfolded in Bristol. The 20-year-old found himself on the front line of the resistance in Castle Park.
The young man, who is Black and Muslim and a child of immigrants, was subjected to racist and Islamophobic abuse. After being singled out, Ebrima became “pumped up and aggressive” and was drawn into a fist fight with two men, who would later go on to attack a hotel housing asylum seekers in nearby Redcliffe.
While those he clashed with evaded arrest, at least for a while, Ebrima was pinned to the ground by police in riot gear and taken into custody, as anti-racist counter-protesters tried to explain to officers that he had been acting in self defence. He was released on bail before later being charged with violent disorder.
On Thursday 19 December, Ebrima was sentenced at Bristol Crown Court to 20 months’ custodial detention. His jail term was handed down despite an appeal from the Mwanzo Project, a youth service that supports Ebrima, for the judge to consider the “wider context of racism” that underpins the circumstances surrounding his case.
Abused, attacked, and subjected to hate
“Like so many of us, during the summer Ebrima experienced the arrival of fascist far-right protests in his hometown, a named city of sanctuary, where diversity should be celebrated, and instead was subjected to racist and Islamophobic abuse in addition to a physical attack,” wrote Maya Mate-Kole, director of the Mwanzo Project, in a letter to the courts.
“The emotional impact of such incidents and living in a society where you can be abused, attacked and subjected to hate purely due to your skin colour and heritage cannot be minimised nor measured.”
Sentencing Ebrima, Judge Edward Burgess acknowledged the young man was “triggered” by the racist abuse he was confronted with, but concluded: “Appropriate punishment can only be achieved by immediate custody… there must be a deterrent element, and there must be consistency the courts take.”
Ebrima’s jail term of 20 months is a year less than that given to Ashley Harris, a 30-year-old man from Kingswood who fought Ebrim in Castle Park before playing a central role in targeting a hotel housing asylum seekers later that evening. He also punched a woman in the face.
The young man isn’t the only one in jail for standing up to far right extremists like Harris. And he may not be the last, as others await trial in the new year.
Goaded and provoked
Abdinasir Hussein, 24, is serving an 18 month jail term for his involvement in the violent disorder. He threw two unidentified objects in the direction of the far right, who were at the time trying to target the Mercure Hotel in Redcliffe.
At a brief pre-sentencing hearing on 19 September, the same judge, Edward Burgess, said Abdinasir was clearly reacting to behaviour that could “best be described as goading and provocative”. Like Ebrima, he had been subjected to verbal racist abuse earlier in Castle Park.
Also like Ebrima, Abdinasir had pleaded guilty to a charge of violent disorder at an earlier hearing – the second most serious public order offence after riot. His brief hearings didn’t reveal what the objects he threw were, and his case hinged entirely on an 11-second clip of CCTV footage.
Police published a press release following Abdinasir’s sentencing in October, decrying his actions that day, while a detective said he had “contributed significantly” to the disorder. Judge Burgess spoke of “wounds” and “scars” the disorder had on Bristol’s diverse communities, appearing to conflate his actions with those of the far-right extremists he was taking a stand against.
Living in fear and in terror
An impact statement from the police following the disorder was provided to judges by prosecutors and used to highlight the damage done. It read: “Overwhelmingly, I have been told how people from Black and minoritised backgrounds have been [living] in fear and terror following the outpouring of racism and Islamophobia they have seen and experienced in Bristol in the lead up to, during and following the recent disorder.
“Members of our Muslim communities in Bristol have expressed how they feel the specific nature and threat towards their community is unprecedented. They feel that just because the violent disorder has subsided, fears that people think this way about Muslim communities means that they continue to look over their shoulder, being careful about not being ‘openly’ Muslim in public to avoid being targeted.”
Nothing was said at Adbinasir’s sentencing hearing of the horror felt by asylum seekers targeted inside the Mercure Hotel in Redcliffe during the far-right violence, nor of the impact extremists’ actions had on communities who boarded up their windows in fear of being attacked the following week.
Judge Burgess told the young man that he accepted he was reacting to “racist slurs that were thrown at you provocatively… but the irony is that in reacting the way you did, particularly in throwing a missile at the opposing faction… your actions were incendiary”.
Fighting the charge
While Ebrima and Abdinasir pleaded guilty to their charges of violent disorder, Jivara Omar, a Kurdish man who was involved in confrontation during in Castle Park, will fight his charge at trial next year after pleading not guilty.
At Jivara’s plea hearing on 17 October, a prosecutor spelled out how he “ran over” to intervene after two members of the far right “squared up” with another man in Castle Park.
“Police were separating the group from another of a different opinion,” the prosecutor told the 30-year-old’s brief hearing at Bristol Magistrates Court.
“Two males on the far-right side squared up with another man and all three began throwing punches. The defendant then runs over to the fight, directly towards a male in a khaki shirt, throws three punches, attempts to throw another, and then police arrest him.”
While his case is still to be heard, strict reporting restrictions apply, but the Cable will be covering the trial which is set to open at Bristol Crown Court on 1 September.
Another example of a broken system
Ebrima and Abdinasir’s sentences were passed by without protest, undocumented by the police and media but for short reports stating their name, age and the offence they were convicted of.
Amy Newcombe, a service co-ordinator at the Mwanzo Project, which has supported Ebrima, was tearful in the public gallery as the young man’s custodial sentence was handed down this week.
“[Ebrima] was subjected to racist and Islamophobic verbal and physical abuse by fascists in his home city during the summer riots,” she told the Cable. “His custodial sentence does not feel like justice and is another example of a broken system.”
“Ebrima is much loved by us all and we will continue to support him however we can, we know his potential and his light won’t be dimmed.”
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