In view of the recent attack on the High Court (“Hong Kong protests: petrol bomb attacks on city’s courts condemned as act of ‘criminals, not genuine protesters’”, December 9), it is important for protesters to consider who really is to blame for the crisis. It is surely not the judiciary, which continues to uphold judicial independence, constitutional propriety and procedural fairness, nor is it the cleaner who may well have been killed by a protester, nor is it ordinary people from the mainland in Hong Kong, who are simply looking for a better life.

Those who worry about infiltration should recall the actions of locals in the police force: dictatorships, not people, are the real danger. The Civil Human Rights Front have commendably opposed the attack on the court buildings, but this may not be enough; perhaps another rally akin to the one at Chungking Mansions could be arranged.

I have always supported the protest movement and likely always will. While the police are definitely out of control, even the “valiant” among the protesters are usually open to some dialogue, whether on LIHKG or Telegram. Nevertheless, to excuse the targeting of innocents because of white terror or police brutality is both morally repugnant and a failure of the imagination.