Outcry after Hong Kong riot police tackle girl
• Hong Kong police tackled a 12- year- old girl to the ground and arrested her during protests against delayed parliamentary elections.
A video widely shared online shows riot officers pushing the girl to the ground on Sunday as she tried to flee. She was later charged for allegedly violating coronavirus social distancing rules, police said.
The girl’s mother told local media: “She was just trying to buy art supplies with her brother.”
The video has sparked outrage online, gathering more than a million views on Twitter. On the local internet forum, LIHKG, one comment criticized the police for being “loud and impolite” like a “mad dog chasing after people who run.”
In a statement on Facebook, the police said the girl was running in a “suspicious manner” that required officers to chase and subdue her with the use of “minimum force.”
The arrest came amid demonstrations against delayed elections, with hundreds of protesters facing off against thousands of riot police.
About 290 people were arrested in the biggest, single- day sweep since early July, in one of the largest demonstrations since a draconian national security law was imposed by Beijing on the territory.
The new law, introduced on July 1, criminalizes acts deemed as secession, subversion, terrorism and foreign collusion, making them punishable by life imprisonment.
During the protests, activists were arrested for a range of alleged infractions, including chanting antigovernment protest slogans, engaging in unlawful assembly, misconduct in a public place, and failing to produce identification.
Before the protest, activist Tam-tak-chi, 47, was arrested on suspicion of “uttering seditious words,” police said. Pro- democracy activist Joshua Wong appeared near the starting point of the march early in the afternoon, but it is unclear if he managed to join it due to the heavy police presence.
“We hope the world can never forget Sept. 6 should be election day. And now Beijing delayed and even cancelled the elections, which is totally unreasonable,” he said.
Clashes erupted on multiple occasions as police fired rounds of pepper balls while protesters hurled water bottles and an umbrella towards them.
The 2020 Hong Kong Legislative Council election was originally scheduled for last Sunday, until it was postponed for a year by the government, citing coronavirus concerns.
Activists have criticized the Hong Kong authorities for using the pandemic to delay an election it appeared poised to lose, especially as the decision to suspend the polls came after several pro- democracy opposition candidates were barred from running.