Hong Kong police clash with marchers
HONG KONG — A march against alleged police collusion with local gangs escalated into direct clashes between protesters and police Saturday afternoon in the Hong Kong district of Yuen Long.
After several hours of peaceful marching, riot police fired tear gas and pepper spray at tens of thousands of protesters who had ignored a police ban to march in the area where armed thugs attacked commuters, protesters and journalists six days earlier.
Some protesters carried makeshift wooden shields. Others stepped on pictures of Li Peng, the recently deceased former Chinese premier who backed the Tiananmen Square massacre of student protesters in 1989.
“Black cops! Black cops!” the crowds chanted, their anger honing in on Hong Kong police and perceived collusion with local gangs called triads.
Jason Choi, a 22-year-old student, said he believed the government was working with triads to attack and intimidate protesters. “We want to let them know that the triads don’t run things. To let the police know, to let everyone know, to let the government know. You’re not going to scare citizens by bringing the triads out.”
When one police van tried to drive through the crowds, protesters wearing black shirts, yellow hard hats and face masks swarmed around it and smashed the windows, spray painting its sides with names of triad groups.
By 5:30 p.m., police were firing tear gas into densely populated residential streets as protesters threw paint, traffic cones and umbrellas at them.
Eddie Chu, a pro-democratic lawmaker, said he was trying to mediate between police and protesters.
“Today protesters are very afraid that the triads will come out at night to beat people, so we hope they won’t just act against citizens, but also help protect citizens,” Chu said. “The police have promised me that they’ll stay tonight.”
Hong Kong is in its seventh week of protests against a proposed extradition bill that would allow suspected criminals to be sent back to mainland China. The territory’s embattled Chief Executive Carrie Lam has delayed the bill and called it “dead,” but protesters are demanding that it be withdrawn.
Amid escalating clashes with police, protesters’ demands have expanded from anti-extradition to calls for investigation into alleged police violence, release of political prisoners, Lam’s resignation and universal suffrage.
The Yuen Long protest comes a day after thousands staged a sit-in at the Hong Kong airport’s arrivals hall. Passengers met a sea of protesters waving “Free Hong Kong” signs in multiple languages.
Last week, hundreds of men dressed in white had rampaged through a mass transit station in Yuen Long, beating people with sticks and hospitalizing at least 45. Hong Kong police have since arrested 12 people in connection with the attacks and said at least nine of them were related to local organized crime groups.