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A small band of far-right marchers were escorted around Temple Meads by dozens of police officers as part of a major operation in Bristol today.

The ‘Gays Against Sharia’ march – organised by online activists with links to EDL founder Tommy Robinson – took place in Bristol on Saturday (April 28) without incident despite counter-protests and previous disruption.

Marchers from the group, which has been accused of ‘islamophobia and spreading hatred’ by opponents, met near Temple Meads station at around 2pm before they march in a loop around the area.

They were escorted by around 10 police riot vans, mounted officers, dozens of police on foot and even a law enforcement drone being used for the first time.

More than 100 Avon and Somerset Police officers are believed to have been involved in the operation, which was coordinated from the Portishead headquarters.

Around 40 people were involved in the march, that ended with speeches near the station.

Counter protests against the 'Gays Against Sharia' group were organised by LGBT+ groups and anti-fascist organisation – which were held in The Centre with around 30 attendees.

During the afternoon, a small group of ‘Gay Against Sharia’ protests made their way from Temple Meads to the counter-protest, but were kept at a distance by police before turning back.

The ‘Gays Against Sharia’, who object to being called far-right, said they are marching in solidarity with and to raise awareness about the case of Kevin ‘Bunny’ Crehan.

He was the Knowle West man who died in Bristol Prison at the end of December 2016. He had been jailed for a year after pleading guilty to an attack on a mosque in Totterdown in January 2016, which saw bacon placed on the door handles, a St George flag tied to a fence and abuse shouted at two elderly people.

Crehan was one of four people involved in the incident. Another man was also jailed, but two others were not. The judge who sentenced 35-year-old Crehan to a year in prison said he was taking into account his long history of convictions for mainly football-related violence in the sentence given.

An inquest is yet to be held into the circumstances of the death of Kevin Crehan, although a prison ombudsman report into the death has now been completed, which now opens the way for the inquest to be scheduled by the Avon Coroner, probably this summer.

The Knight’s Templar pub in Temple Meads was closed because of the far-right demonstration taking place nearby.

The last time a similar event took place was in September last year, when two alt-right groups calling themselves Gays Against Sharia and also British and Immigrants Against Terrorism.

In the event, around 65 people marched from Temple Meads, surrounded by a large police escort, along Redcliffe Way to Queen Square. There, police had cordoned off the historic square with a large ‘ring of steel’ – 8ft high metal fences that blocked all the accesses to the square.

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While the group object to being called far-right, Before the last event in September Bristol Live revealed the Gays Against Sharia organiser had sent a last-minute appeal to members of the South West Infidels, a far-right organisation based largely on Facebook, which is closely linked to the English Defence League (EDL), to invite them to join the march.

During the march on Saturday, a St George’s Cross flag with the letters ‘SWI’ written on it was flown.