Police fire tear gas as protesters block roads

HONG KONG (AP):

POLICE FIRED tear gas at protesters in Hong Kong yesterday for the second night in a row in another escalation of weeks-long pro-democracy protests in the semi-autonomous Chinese territory.

Protesters occupied two areas at opposite ends of central Hong Kong following a mid-afternoon rally against police use of tear gas the previous Sunday.

As night fell, one group that had blocked a road near the Chinese government’s liaison office began to move forward. The police issued warnings, and protesters were seen throwing eggs at them. Officers fired tear gas to halt the advance.

Protesters had rallied earlier at a park in Hong Kong’s financial district before marching out in

several directions despite not winning police approval for a public procession. It was the second straight day that protesters took to the streets without official permission. A sea of black-shirted protesters, some with bright yellow helmets and masks, but many with just backpacks, streamed out of Chater Garden park. Chanting “Add oil,” a phrase that roughly means “Keep up the fight,” a huge crowd marched east down a wide thoroughfare, in what has become a summer of protest in the city.

They stopped near the Sogo department store and set up barricades to block off the area and defend it against police.