Police must not forget they protect everyone
- Sickening attack on anti-government protesters and bystanders at city subway station has led to questions as to why officers took so long to respond
The speed with which police detained the suspects contrasts sharply with the up to an hour it took officers to arrive at the scene. Later, some officers were filmed approaching a village where there were armed men dressed in white similar to those who carried out the attack. No arrests were made.
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It’s hard not to conclude the arrests and subsequent anti-triad operation were made only after the attack was considered too scandalous by society to play down.
A day before the attack, Arthur Shek Kang-chuen, one of the founders of the Hong Kong Economic Times, made a speech calling on people to arm themselves to teach “children” a lesson, presumably a reference to young anti-government protesters.
After his remarks, more than 100 journalists at the newspaper wrote a collective statement expressing shock and dismay. Shek apologised and said he knew nothing beforehand about the attack in which two journalists sustained serious injuries.
Commissioner of Police Stephen Lo Wai-chung said the delayed response happened because of the mass protests on Hong Kong Island, which had strained manpower to the limit.
It’s understandable that police may not have responded to the attack, which began as a face-off with anti-government protesters, with the greatest enthusiasm after all the mass rallies of the past two months. But officers must be reminded of their duty to protect everyone, including those they have no sympathy for.