Protesters defy rally ban, skirmish with riot police
HONG KONG — An unauthorized antigovernment rally in Hong Kong quickly turned chaotic Sunday as police used tear gas to disperse protesters on a major tourist strip, leading to hours of confrontations in the semiautonomous Chinese territory.
Prodemocracy protesters barricaded roads, hurled firebombs and set a subway entrance on fire as they used hitandrun tactics against phalanxes of riot police.
Protesters in Hong Kong have taken to the streets for more than four months in a movement sparked by concern about an unpopular China extradition bill that has since snowballed to include wider demands for political reform.
Protesters, who called the latest rally over concerns about police conduct, were met at the rally by a heavy security presence, which only ratcheted up the tensions. They yelled “Gangster cops, death to your whole family.”
Police have faced criticism for using heavyhanded tactics including tear gas, pepper spray, rubber bullets and water cannons to subdue protesters. On occasion they have fired live rounds, wounding a teenage activist in the chest last month. But police say they’re the ones who are victims of violence, having been on the receiving end of hurled bricks and firebombs.
This month, an 18yearold was charged with intentional wounding for a slashing attack on a riot officer.
At Sunday’s rally, some protesters threw umbrellas and other objects at riot police, who responded with tear gas, bringing traffic on a main road to a standstill. Protesters ripped up bricks from the sidewalk and scattered them on the streets to block cars.
Some protesters reportedly took refuge across the street in the luxury Peninsula Hotel, which promptly lowered its shutters.
Many protesters moved to the nearby Chungking Mansions, a focal point for South Asian residents and businesses, where they continued to face off with police, bringing the normally bustling Nathan Road tourist strip to a standstill.
They were showing support for the former British colony’s ethnic and religious minorities — another aim of the rally — after police used a water cannon to spray a mosque and bystanders with a stinging bluedyed liquid the previous weekend. Police briefly used the cannon on a nearby street Sunday, but it appeared to be filled with ordinary water this time.
Hong Kong’s protest movement shows no signs of cooling even after the government formally withdrew the unpopular China extradition bill on Wednesday, giving in to one of the movement’s demands.