Hong Kong riot police fire tear gas, chase protesters a day after violent clashes

HONG KONG: Hundreds of Hong Kong riot police confronted demonstrators on Monday night (Oct 21) as they gathered to mark the three-month anniversary of an assault by more than 100 men on protesters, commuters and journalists.

The stand-off in the Yuen Long district, in which there were no immediate clashes or scuffles, followed violence on Sunday when tens of thousands marched through the Kowloon district and hardcore activists threw petrol bombs at police, torched entrances to metro stations and trashed hundreds of shops.

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READ: Petrol bombs and tear gas scar Hong Kong streets as police, protesters clash

Under a policy that deems marches illegal unless they have a police permit, riot police stopped around 100 protesters trying to reach the Yuen Long metro station in Hong Kong's northwest, which was closed five hours early amid tight security.

Police ordered protesters to disperse, at one stage rushing them and detaining one person. Scuffles broke out between pro-Beijing supporters and protesters and angry residents emerged from apartments to jeer officers, calling them "black police".

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A police statement said police resorted to tear gas after some protesters hurled "hard objects" at them and vandalised bank facilities in the vicinity. It urged residents to stay indoors, keep windows closed and avoid local streets.

After a few hours, most protesters had scattered but police remained on the streets in force, occasionally firing tear gas at small groups and chasing down individuals.

Elsewhere in the city, protesters staged peaceful sit-ins at five metro stations.

READ: Hands tied and paralysed: Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam struggles to end crisis

JULY MOB ATTACK ON PROTESTERS

Protesters are angry that police did not act quickly enough to protect activists and commuters from the Jul 21 gang assault on them in the Hong Kong metro, and at what they say is a slow investigation into the incident.

Police have arrested 34 people and charged six.

At the time some believed the men had been hired to attack the group. Some politicians and activists have linked Hong Kongs shadowy network of triad criminal gangs to political intimidation and violence in recent years, sometimes against activists and critics of Beijing.

"INDEPENDENT INVESTIGATION, JUSTICE"

Yim, a 42-year-old social worker, said he was in Yuen Long station on the night of the attack, adding it was important to continue to protest against such mob violence.

"If they really wanted to catch those attackers they could," he said. "There were many people filmed that night but theyve only arrested six people so far … we want an independent investigation and justice for this attack. The police are selectively enforcing the law."

Hong Kong has been battered by more than five months of protests, and despite two weeks of calm, Sunday's mass rally showed there was no end in sight to the unrest.