48 police officers injured, 23 arrested in HK riot

BlueMary · Feb 9, 2016

48 police officers injured, 23 arrested in HK riot

Xinhua, February 9, 2016

Some 300 rioters clashed with Hong Kong police after a clearance operation on illegal hawkers from late Monday to Tuesday morning.

At least 24 rioters were arrested and 48 police officers were injured.

The riot erupted after a handful illegal street vendors refused to halt business in Mong Kok, a busy commercial district, and clashed with law enforcement officials.

Rioters then arrived and confronted with the police re-inforcement.

After one and a half hour of confrontation, the rioters attacked the police with bricks, stones and other makeshift weapons.

The police were forced to fire two warning shots in a bid to rescue personnel.

Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying condemned the rioters' violent behaviors Tuesday morning and expressed his support to the police for their efforts in restoring order and peace.

BlueMary · Feb 9, 2016

Hong Kong street hawker protest becomes riot: chaos on streets of Mong Kok as police fire warning shots, use pepper spray as crowd attacks with bricks and bottles

Police: radical elements with makeshift weapons and shields set fires in riot

PUBLISHED : Tuesday, 09 February, 2016, 1:37am
UPDATED : Tuesday, 09 February, 2016, 1:05pm

Chris Lau, Danny Lee, Joyce Ng and Clifford Lo

A police officer points a gun at protesters in Mong Kok. Photo: TVB

One of Hong Kong’s busiest districts was in virtual lockdown this morning after a night of violence which saw the police open fire with two “warning shots” as protesters launched missiles and set fires as a crackdown on illegal street food hawkers escalated into what some witnesses described as a ‘riot’.

Hong Kong’s government “strongly condemned” the protesters.

Mong Kok, the scene of some of the worst unrest during the Occupy protests in 2014 , remains tense as unidentified protesters – a signficant number of them so-called ‘localists’ who campaign for varying degrees of independence for Hong Kong – launching sporadic brick and bottle attacks on police, who retaliated with pepper spray.

Fires were also reported to have been lit in the area surrounding Shantung and Soy Streets. The government has advised motorists to avoid the area.

Police have labelled the escalations last night a riot. Photo: Edward Wong

In brief:

Mong Kok streets in riot
Health inspector crackdown on hawkers preceded riot
Protest began about 10pm, riot started around 2am
Hong Kong Indigenous group believed to be linked to protest
23 arrested, 48 officers injured
Four journalists injured, some claim to have been hurt from police batons
More than 100 rioters counted
Mong Kok MTR closed until late morning

Casualties

Crusade Yau Siu-kei, deputy Mong Kok district commander, confirmed this morning officers fired two warning shots during the “riot”.

“Radical elements have come with self-made weapons and shields and clashed with police,” Yau said. “The situation ran out of control and became a riot.”

He said the “mob” continued to throw bricks, rubbish bins and glass bottles at a close distance.

Police said 48 police officers were reported injured, with glass and hard objects deemed the likely weapons.

Police arrested 23 men and a woman, on charges including assaulting police, resisting arrest, disorder in public place and obstructing a police officer.

At least four journalists were reported injured, including those from TVB, Ming Pao, RTHK and a cameraman from Cable TV.

Police clashed with protestors last night in Mong Kong. Photo: Edward Wong

“Warning shots”

The two warning shots were fired by an unspecified number of officers at 2am, Yau said. “Because many rioters were attacking police with hard objects and seriously threatened their lives, there was no choice but to protect colleagues” and own safety, he added.

A police source said: “Officers were under attack and a police officer fired two shots into the air’’ adding that protesters were “rioters” and trouble makers. Later, an officials statement from the police said officers had taken ‘’resolute action’’

Shortly before gunshots were fired, pallets and rocks were hurled at a team of traffic police officers. A senior constable was hit with a pallet, causing him to fall to the ground. He said he felt dizzy but some protestors continued charging him and hurled rocks at him.

Protestors and police in front of a Mong Kok McDonald’s. Photo: Edward Wong

Police have not ruled out the notion the riot was “organised”, he said, noting that protesters arranged vehicles to transport equipment. Police will continue the investigation.

The source added that protestors seemed prepared,being well equipped with home-made shields, goggles, helmets and gloves.

Police hosing protestor. Photo: Edward Wong

Social media reports said among those arrested was Legislative Council election hopeful, Edward Leung Tin-kei, spokesman for localist group Hong Kong Indigenous. There were also unconfirmed reports that the new editor-in-chief of

At least one group of 100 protesters were engaged in skirmishes with the police. Eye-witnesses said paving stones were being ripped up and some objects were being hurled at officers.

At 6am the police released a statement which said: “Police reiterate that any acts endangering public order and public safety will not be tolerated. The Hong Kong community regard that the public should express their views in a rational and peaceful manner. Police will take enforcement actions decisively on law-breaking behaviours.”

Trouble first flared shortly after 2am when what had begun as a protest by angry food hawkers in Portland Street who had been targeted in a food and hygiene crackdown, spiralled out of control.

A TVB video showed the moment police drew guns on protesters and fired two warning shots into the air on Argyle Street around 2am. An SCMP reporter on the scene also witnessed and heard two shots fired from a gun.

Bricks broken in half then thrown at police officers. Photo: Chris Lau

Student Julia Fung described the night as shocking, but said she was more afraid of the police than the riot.

The student said when she was taking a picture of a girl being pinned down to the floor she was hit by a police baton to her back.

“You can feel rage in the police officers’ eyes towards the protesters,” she said

She said protesters had become more radical due to a ramp-up in government heavy-handedness using the example that a fracas occurred over hawkers selling fish ball on the street.

“Not only were batons and pepper spray used ... police were firing gun shots,” she said.

She said the relationship between police and the people had hit a new low.
How it happened – overnight coverage from our team in Mong Kok

More than a hundred people were involved in the riot, gathering at different points and setting fire to rubbish bins in the streets, he said.

Both lanes on Nathan Road were blocked from south of Argyle Street. Police warned they would use “appropriate force” while asking and pushing people to move to the footpath.

With volleys of objects, notably bricks and other objects, injuries were likely sustained on both sides.

Protestors were also seen trying to push over a minibus-stop sign.

Radical group, PassionTimes, posted a video to their Facebook page of police hitting a woman, causing bruising and bleeding.

The night’s violent clashes unfolded around 10pm on the first day of Chinese New year when police attempted to clear Portland Street as part of a city-wide clampdown on hawkers. The crowd reacted by throwing glass bottles and flower pots and police used pepper spray at one point.

The commotion broke out at about midnight early Tuesday when police put on protective gear, including helmets and shields, to fend off the unhappy crowd that flung objects at them. A standoff ensued.

Police source said shots fired into air were justified as they felt their lives at risk. Photo: Edward Wong

Hong Kong Indigenous, a localist group that is fielding a candidate in a Legislative Council by-election in three weeks, is involved in the protest.

The candidate Edward Leung Tin-kei has been arrested, according to a Facebook post by the group at 2.16am.

Shortly after midnight-and about three hours after the chaos broke out, the group announced on Facebook that it would “exercise” Leung’s “power” as an election candidate to hold an election march in the Mong Kok night market. The group said they would not need to notify the police because the number of marchers would be less than 30.

A protestor on the ground. Photo: Edward Wong

It called on people to go out in support and bring along eye masks, face masks and protective gear.

Before Leung’s arrest, he was seen standing in the front of the crowd shouting slogans through a loudspeaker. Some protesters were wearing the group’s blue tracksuits with its name printed.

In a police statement released at 3.23am, it “strongly condemned” the clashes in Mong Kok.

The night’s violent clashes unfolded around 10pm on the first day of Chinese New year when police attempted to clear Portland Street as part of a city-wide clampdown on hawkers. The crowd reacted by throwing glass bottles and flower pots and police used pepper spray at one point.

The police defended its handling of the chaotic scenes for which it took “resolute actions” including the deployment of batons, pepper spray to stop “unlawful violence acts.” However, it also failed to draw reference to the two warning gunshot fired earlier tonight.

An hour earlier, a police spokesman said they had “no information” on gunshots fired in Mong Kok at present.

In the police’s narrative of the chaotic scenes, it said protesters were causing “serious disturbances to public safety” and other road users prompting police intervention.

The police vowed “resolute enforcement actions will be taken against any illegal acts to preserve public order and safeguard public safety.”

Crowds at a standoff with police force in Mong Kok. Photo: Chris Lau

The dispute escalated when police attempted to push a portable ladder towards the crowd, which appeared to perceive it as a threat of clearance.

Earlier, the police engaged in another standoff with the crowds as they tried to block a taxi that was passing through, in retaliation at the clearance of the vendors. Police came back later after a withdrawal.

A hectic start to the Year of the Monkey. Photo: Chris Lau

“It was good in the beginning. I was chatting with the police,” said a man identified as Kam, who was hit with the spray. He declined to reveal his identity.

“They suddenly sprayed my face even though I told them I just wanted to go,” said Kam, who was stuck between the police and crowd at the time.

Another woman, Esther Yip Hoi-wan, from activist group 80s Momentum, said her friends were arrested.

She said it was very dangerous for the police to carry out such operations as there were hawkers’ trolley filled with hot food on the street.

Chaos on the streets of Mong Kok on the first night of the Year of the Monkey. Photo: Edward Wong

BlueMary · Feb 11, 2016

Mong Kok riot: 38 charged and to appear in court as Hong Kong asks how New Year’s night turned to violence

Three more held in connection with Monday night’s unrest in Mong Kok as questions raised on police response and HK ponders ‘deep-rooted’ problems

PUBLISHED : Wednesday, 10 February, 2016, 10:25am
UPDATED : Thursday, 11 February, 2016, 2:36am

Staff Reporters

Are police equipped for another riot? Mong Kok shows gaps in their arsenal, says lawmaker. Photo: AP

Thirty-eight people in connection with Monday night’s Mong Kok mob have been charged for participating in the riot and will appear in court today.

Among the 64 arrests made so far, the police charged 38 men and 3 women aged 15 to 70 with one count of riot yesterday.

Meanwhile, 16 people between the ages of 14 to 33 were released on bail pending further investigation, while another 10 were still detained for further enquiries.

According to the police, rioting is a serious offence that carries a maximum sentence of 10 years’ imprisonment.

Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee. Photo: K. Y. Cheng

Three more people were arrested on Wednesday in connection with the Mong Kok riot – among them a theology student who is due to stand trial next week for an alleged assault during the 2014 Occupy Central protests.

Totalling 64 arrests in the wake of clashes between protesters and police on Monday night, the city began to ask how a protest defending street hawkers escalated to some of the worst street violence Hong Kong had ever seen.

Security minister-turned-politician Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee urged the government to tackle the “deep-rooted” problems facing the city.

A prominent political party leader called for the introduction of water cannon as a crowd dispersal tool, and more questions surfaced about how the police reacted to the situation and why they didn’t see it coming.

The highest profile and most controversial arrest was that of Derek Lam Shun-hin, who was in Mong Kok when a crackdown on illegal hawkers by hygiene officials was said to have triggered violence.

Scholarism claimed Lam could be charged with “taking part in a riot”, which was reportedly used last time against rioting drug addiction centre inmates in 2000.

(Government source)

Police, meanwhile, also faced criticism for being ill-prepared to cope with the mayhem.

By late yesterday afternoon, a total of 64 people had been arrested in connection with the Monday riot. They included 55 men and nine women, aged from 14 to 70.

It was understood that 15 students were arrested, three of whom were from the University of Hong Kong. Meanwhile, 14 of those arrested were affiliated with eight different political groups, with Hong Kong Indigenous leading the pack at five members arrested.

The localist group, Hong Kong Indigenous, whose members were in Mong Kok to “protect” unlicensed hawkers, claimed that about 20 of its members had been arrested, including a Legislative Council by-election candidate.

According to a legal source in contact with 30 arrestees, most of them were below 30 years old. Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying has vowed to track down the perpetrators of the riot and bring them to justice.

What it was all about? A street hawker sells ‘stinky tofu’ in Portland Street. Hong Kong authorities’ attempts to enforce the law on hawkers selling illegal street food ended in a 10-hour riot. Photo: EPA

After Lam’s arrest, the police arrested another man, 54, in Sham Shui Po in connection with the riot, and seized from his home, among other things, about five portable two-way radios.

A third man, 21, was also arrested in Sheung Shui for alleged involvement with the riot.

Violence erupted overnight as a group of activists from Hong Kong Indigenous confronted police and hygiene officers to “protect” illegal street hawkers in Mong Kok.

At one point, masked activists threw bricks and bottles at police, while police used batons and pepper spray and fired two warning shots into the air.

Television news footage also showed rioters setting fire to litter bins and throwing bottles and rubbish at police.

It was the worst unrest in Hong Kong since the Occupy Central protests of 2014.

Activists claimed they went to support the street hawkers to defend what they believe is an integral part of Hong Kong culture.

The last time riot charges were brought was after a riot at the Hei Ling Chau drug treatment centre in 2000. Disputes between Vietnamese and local inmates degenerated into violence on the night of June 4.

Meanwhile, Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah yesterday condemned the rioters and said: “We should all stand up and tell them we do not accept what they have done.”

“[Genuine] localists won’t do such things. [Genuine] localists would love Hong Kong and treasure the core values of Hong Kong. They would not do anything that would harm the city,” Tsang said.

A rioter holds a sign post as a fire burns in the Mong Kok area of Hong Kong. Photo: Bloomberg

But Democratic Party lawmaker James To Kun-sun said going around arresting people would not solve anything.

Former security minister Ip, now a legislator for the New People’s Party and an Executive Council member, echoed To’s views but added: “Some of them do not see a way out with their employment, housing and education issues. It is easy for them to go astray and resort to violence … We need to think of ways to address these deep-rooted problems in our society.”

Meanwhile, various groups turned up at police stations across the city yesterday to show their support for the police officers injured in the rioting.

Reporting by Tony Cheung, Ernest Kao, Joyce Ng, Christy Leung and Ng Kang-chung

48 police officers injured, 23 arrested in HK riot

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