Hong Kong protests turn violent with police
Tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets of Hong Kong on Sunday in a peaceful rally that descended into clashes inside a shopping mall as police tried to clear out a small group of younger demonstrators.
The march was the protesters’ latest effort to spread their movement across the semiautonomous Chinese territory and the first major test of public sentiment since the city’s embattled leader announced that an unpopular bill was “dead” but stopped short of withdrawing it.
Dark rain clouds loomed as the large mass of protesters marched through the
Sha Tin area of the New Territories, a region of Hong Kong near the border with mainland China, and shouted slogans like “The police knowingly broke the law” and “Fight on, Hong Kong.”
In the late afternoon, scuffles broke out as police officers wielding shields and batons deployed pepper spray against a small group of protesters, some of whom pelted the officers with plastic bottles and traffic cones.
As night fell, a tense standoff formed between protesters and police officers in riot gear. Around 7 p.m., a pro-democracy lawmaker, Ted Hui, and several local officials from Sha Tin sat cross-legged in the middle of the road between the officers and the protesters and demanded to speak with the police commander.
By 10 p.m., as police tried to clear the streets in the mostly residential neighborhood, the demonstrators had scattered and many ended up regrouping in a shopping mall. Soon after, police moved into the mall and were met with protesters who had filled the floors overlooking the atrium and were throwing bottles and umbrellas at the officers on the ground floor.
Police struck at the protesters with batons and pushed them with shields, and officers were seen dragging several of them away. Local television footage showed some protesters surrounding and kicking a police officer who appeared to be on the ground. Other protesters were being treated by medics.
The Hong Kong government said it condemned the actions of those protesters who blocked roads, assaulted police officers and disrupted the peace. “The rule of law is the cornerstone of Hong Kong, and the society will absolutely not tolerate such violent acts,” it said in a statement late Sunday.
Several pro-democracy lawmakers criticized the police’s handling of the demonstration, saying that officers who stormed into the mall in full riot gear had set off panic among the protesters.
The demonstration in Sha Tin came one day after clashes broke out between police officers and protesters in a Hong Kong border town.
The protest Saturday concerned parallel traders who come across the border from the mainland to buy items like baby formula and diapers for resale in China – hurting consumers in Hong Kong, critics of the practice say. Two protesters were arrested, including on charges of unlawful assembly.