Hong Kong police fire tear gas as thousands march past Yuen Long | News from the world

A peaceful march in Yuen Long City to condemn an ​​badault of suspected members of a gang against commuters turned into violence when Hong Kong riot police fired tear gas and bullets rubber on the crowd and used batons to beat the protesters.

On Sunday, the government said that 11 men, aged between 18 and 68, had been arrested for illegal badembly, possession of an offensive weapon and badault of a police officer. "The police condemn the deliberate attacks of violent protesters and will investigate all illegal and violent acts," the government said in a statement.

The organizers said nearly 300,000 protesters and residents Saturday afternoon had violated the police ban to descend into the western city of the new Hong Kong territories. They headed for the transit station where masked men in white T-shirts chased and beat pbadengers last Sunday, leaving 45 people hospitalized.

In the evening, the march had become tense as protesters approached the surrounding villages of the city, where are based some of the presumed triads behind the attack. Police shouted warnings through loudspeakers telling the protesters that they were involved in an illegal gathering and that they should leave immediately.

After hours of stand-off near two of the villages and various parts of the city, the police began dispersing the crowd by firing rubber bullets, grenades and tear gas, sometimes near residential areas. . Police were also seen firing tear gas and rubber bullets at journalists.

Protesters – many wearing black T-shirts and safety helmets and armed with wooden shields and windsurfers, as well as walking sticks and canes – fought back with umbrellas and bottles of water. water. Others threw stones and bottles at the police. Protesters dismantled road barriers and built improvised barricades between themselves and the police.

Chief police commissioner Yolanda Liu said at a press conference held late at night that protesters had thrown bricks, bottles of corrosive liquid and smoked bombs against police.

Most of the protesters left around 7 pm, as news spread that the police had deployed a special tactical team to clear the streets and that protesters had seen reinforcements coming in to surround them.

Hundreds of protesters remained, however, and continued to clash with the police late at night, gathering at Yuen Long Station and along the main road.

In an episode that protesters and critics began comparing to the pbadenger attack at Yuen Long last week, a special tactical unit rushed to the train station where protesters had gathered , some getting ready to go home. The police shot at them, beating them with batons.

"The police rushed without warning. They were hitting and beating, continually beating protesters and ordinary people for at least 20 seconds, "said 18-year-old Mathew Lam, who said he saw five people injured.

Protesters tried to use a fire extinguisher to repel the police. At least one protester was thrown to the ground, bleeding. Blood smears could be seen on the floor in the station hall.

"It was terrible … it was the same as last week at Yuen Long Station," said 19-year-old Stephy Chan, who was at the station at the time. "Last week, it was the men in white. This time it was the police, "she said.

Hong Kong hospital authorities said 17 people had been hospitalized as a result of clashes, two of them in serious condition.

Earlier, a group of protesters broke the windows of a Lexus near the station after spotting sticks similar to those used against pbadengers last Sunday, leaving leaflets criticizing the police on the hood.

The Hong Kong government said Sunday in a statement in the early hours of the day that demonstrators had also vandalized police cars and blocked roads. The government said it "strongly condemned the protesters for breach of the public peace and deliberate violation of the law."

"The police will take serious follow-up action with these violent protesters," he said.

Police also issued a statement Saturday reminding demonstrators that they were participating in an "unauthorized badembly" and that they could face up to five years in prison.

Amnesty International condemned the police response to the protesters. Man-kei Tam, director of Amnesty International in Hong Kong, said: "There have been many cases today where police officers were the perpetrators; beating protesters who were retreating, attacking civilians in the station and targeting journalists. "

He added: "Such a brutal response now appears in the modus operandi of Hong Kong police and we urge them to change course quickly."

Hong Kong, a semi-autonomous region of China, is facing its worst political crisis in decades. The protests, which began with a controversial extradition bill, have evolved to include other demands, including a police investigation into the violence in Yuen Long last week.

Opposition residents, activists and lawmakers have accused the government and police of being badociated with the triad in an attempt to crack down on protests, a charge denied by Hong Kong chief executive Carrie Lam. .

Those present at Saturday's rally declared that they were not there to make political demands, but to denounce the violence. The protesters surrounded the police headquarters, chanting "Black Police" – a reference to the triads, called in Chinese "black societies".

"It's not so much a question of democracy as trust," said Fong, 30. "If every Hong Kong chooses to stay at home, we will surely die … This is how the Hong Kong people trust each other, showing and standing for each other. "

Anger over last week's Yuen Long attack added fuel to the Hong Kong protest movement, with additional rallies scheduled for Sunday. On Friday, thousands of protesters staged an eleven-hour sit-in at the Hong Kong airport.

According to observers, the escalation of tensions suggests that Beijing will push the Hong Kong government to adopt a harsher attitude towards the protesters. In a rare move, the police rejected the protesters' demand for protests on Saturday in Yuen Long.

The authorities also rejected the request to hold a Sunday in Sheung Wan, near the place where police fired tear gas and rubber bullets at protesters who had damaged the office of the deputies Chinese in Hong Kong last week.

The protesters have vowed to continue. Max Chung, who participated in organizing the rally on Saturday, said he thought the locals had shown their determination: "The Hong Kongers have stiffened their backs to say no to authoritarianism" .