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Clifford Lo

Samuel Chan

Amy Nip

Chris Lau

Phila Siu

The decision by police to fire tear gas on the streets of Admiralty shocked protesters and was condemned by Human Rights Monitor as "unprecedented".
Officers used the tear gas after thousands of protesters stormed onto Harcourt Road outside the Tamar government headquarters and caused gridlock.
The demonstrators scattered but quickly regrouped to occupy the major road linking Central and Wan Chai.
Watch: More tear gas fired as night falls in Hong Kong

Police fired the first rounds of tear gas shortly before 6pm, about 15 minutes after issuing a warning for demonstrators to stop charging police and leave peacefully. "Otherwise, police will use a high level of force in order to restore public order and safeguard public safety."
Anti-riot officers wearing helmets and gas masks and carrying tear gas launchers were then called in. Displaying a banner with the words "Warning - tear smoke" on one side and "Disperse or we fire" on the side, they released the gas at close range when surrounded by demonstrators at 6.50pm. They fired several rounds of tear gas while marching to government headquarters in Tim Mei Avenue.
The confrontation between protesters and police continued at the junction of Harcourt Road and Tim Mei Avenue. Another batch of protesters occupied a section of Queensway outside the Lippo Centre in Admiralty.

At 7.15pm, police issued a statement saying that protesters violently charged the police cordon outside the government headquarters. "After police repeated warnings and protesters refused to leave, police decided to escalate the use of force and tear gas was used to stop those acts which endangered public safety and public order," it said.
But protesters were shocked. A 13-year-old boy said: "I was here for the past two days and I can't believe police would resort to tear gas. My eyes hurt so badly and my lungs are burning ... police have used excessive force today."
Felix Tang, 25, who had been protesting near Admiralty Centre, said: "No one even guessed the police would be so violent. We are unarmed, we only have our hands."
His friend, Eric Lai, 27, who was not wearing goggles, said: "Don't let my look fool you - I am really scared."
He wanted Hongkongers and those outside the city to see what was happening.
Alvin Lai, 23, a recent university graduate, said he was shocked at the force deployed by the police.
Law Yuk-kai, director of Human Rights Monitor, said it was "an unprecedented deviation of normal police practices".
He said the protesters were only exercising their basic human rights for a peaceful demonstration. "The way the police cracked down on protesters was not proportionate," he said.
Watch: Police fire tear gas at protesters outside Hong Kong government offices

Earlier, at about 1.30pm, police threw a cordon around the government headquarters to surround hundreds of demonstrators on the first day of the Occupy Central movement.
Thousands of protesters then broke through the police lines and stormed onto Harcourt Road at about 4pm, about 12 hours after the Occupy movement kicked off in Tim Mei Avenue.
Traffic came to a standstill as demonstrators occupied the westbound and eastbound lanes.
At 7pm, New World First Bus and City Bus said 77 bus routes were temporarily suspended or diverted.
About half an hour later, the MTR Corporation said trains on the Tsuen Wan line and Island lines would not stop at Admiralty. The service was cut for two hours.
"It is totally unexpected. It's all about our pursuit of democracy. Beijing now sees it; the world now sees it; C.Y. Leung, do you see it?" Occupy co-founder Benny Tai Yiu-ting said as he greeted the crowd of thousands.
Clifford Lo, Samuel Chan, Amy Nip, Chris Lau and Phila Siu


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Shock, then anger, at police decision to use tear gas

Enveloped by clouds of tear gas smoke, a protester strikes a defiant pose during yesterday's stand-off near the government headquarters in Admiralty. Photo: K.Y. Cheng

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Hong Kong

Rights activist accuses force of 'unprecedented' action to quell protesters; officers say they had to stop acts that 'endangered public safety'


The decision by police to fire tear gas on the streets of Admiralty shocked protesters and was condemned by Human Rights Monitor as "unprecedented".


Shock, then anger, at police decision to use tear gas

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Rights activist accuses force of 'unprecedented' action to quell protesters; officers say they had to stop acts that 'endangered public safety'

Rights activist accuses force of 'unprecedented' action to quell protesters; officers say they had to stop acts that 'endangered public safety'