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Emily Tsang

Danny Mok

Lai Ying-kit

Ernest Kao

Scuffles broke out at the protest site in Mong Kok in the early hours of Thursday, where dozens of protesters were subdued and pushed to the ground by police officers.
At around 2am, scores of protesters gathering on a pavement near Portland Street clashed with police as officers tried to force them back into the protest site.
The protesters, some wearing construction helmets, shouted insults at police and complained about the way officers handled them earlier.
The scuffles broke out after a protester aimed a photographic flash at police before midnight, other protesters said. Television footage showed officers pushing the man, who was bleeding in his face, against metal barricades at a distance from a crowd.
Another protester, who suffered scratches to his face, said he was dragged to the ground by policemen and his head was injured during the scuffle.
Three men were arrested.
Sai Bing, 25, a logistics employee, said he was on the front lines when the altercations erupted at around 11pm, when that camera flash was aimed at police. “We saw a bunch of police officers grab [the man with the camera] and take him to the HSBC building and beat him as he resisted,” he said. “I saw blood on his face.”
Bing and a group of protesters rushed to protect barricades at the junction of Nathan Road and Argyle Street, prompting a stand-off with officers.
Suddenly, police geared up with batons and shields. Seeing this, demonstrators donned their helmets and protective gear, Bing said.
“We had no intention of charging them at all. We just wanted to protect ourselves,” he said.
Within minutes, the conflict shifted nearby, at the junction of Argyle Street and Portland Street, when protesters began berating several plain-clothes officers who were walking away from the crowd. Police also blocked an attempt to move barricades from Nathan Road to that junction.
“We surrounded them and scolded them. Suddenly police called in reinforcements and closed us in on both sides [of Argyle Street],” said Bing.
Without warning, police advanced and pushed the protesters back, causing some to fall on the ground.



				 

WATCH: Around 50 people wearing Guy Fawkes masks marching towards Lung Wo Rd. in Admiralty to support #OccupyHK Video:SCMP's Emily Tsang
A video posted by SCMPVideoMoJo (@scmpvideomojo) on
		
			Nov 11, 2014 at 7:29am PST
	

Zero Lam Tat-wing, 25, said the shoving by police got more forceful and he fell three times.
“Everyone started falling on top of me. I couldn’t move. I also saw blue-shirt officers throwing punches,” Lam said.
Witnesses said officers also unleashed a round of pepper spray.
“From a distance of less than a metre. I was sprayed right in the face. They could have given us a warning. I didn’t even have my goggles on,” said Bing, whose face remains red and blotchy hours after.
Lam said he saw at least five people pepper-sprayed. “It was very dangerous as protesters were not given any prior warning,” he said.
Joy Chan, 22, a Chinese University student, said that during the melee, police tried to kick down their free-standing tent on Argyle Road.
The chaos died down at around 3am or 4am after police agreed to let them have Argyle Street back if they stopped moving barricades, said Chan. Protesters said they felt battered and fatigued after the action.
But Chan said it showed Occupy Mong Kok’s resilience. “Occupy Mong Kok is still standing strong in the fight and I think this is a good thing for the movement. More people will turn up here again.”
Earlier on Wednesday night, dozens of people wearing Guy Fawkes masks marched to the protest sites in Mong Kok and Admiralty, causing brief but tense standoffs with police.
Around 50 people wearing Guy Fawkes masks gathered on a pavement by Lung Wo Road in Admiralty at about 10pm, chanting "I want genuine universal suffrage". The police briefly closed one traffic lane to prevent them from storming into the road and blocking traffic.
But the masked crowd soon dispersed and wandered around in Central.
Some police officers followed the dispersed protesters and ordered them not to stay on the road. Some of the mask-wearing protesters returned to the protest site after 1am.

The "flash mob" protests appeared to be related to Guy Fawkes Night on November 5, which commemorates the foiling of a plot to blow up the Houses of Parliament in London in 1605.
In Alan Moore's popular comics turned film V for Vendetta, main character V urges anonymous crowds to rise and fight against the establishment on November 5. The film has since turned the Guy Fawkes mask into a popular symbol among anti-establishment protesters around the world.
Separately, in Mong Kok, about 100 protesters in Guy Fawkes masks also marched within the occupied zone at about 9pm, with some putting up yellow umbrellas and chanting “I want genuine universal suffrage” and “down with Leung Chun-ying”, the chief executive. Some of them also marched inside Langham Place mall.
Two hours later, a brief scuffle broke out between protesters and police officers. A number of protesters were taken away from the protest site by police.


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Occupy Central

Protesters, police clash in Mong Kok as 'Guy Fawkes' flash protests raise tensions

Hong Kong protesters wearing Guy Fawkes masks walk past policemen on a road occupied by protesters as part of the Occupy Central civil disobedience movement at Mongkok shopping district November 5, 2014. Photo: Reuters

Protesters wearing Guy Fawkes masks hold up a banner near Mong Kok. Photo: SCMP Pictures

Protesters wearing Guy Fawkes masks in Admiralty. Photo: SCMP Pictures

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Hong Kong

.css-sioo19{color:#c79a00;}Update | Protesters, police clash in Mong Kok as 'Guy Fawkes' flash protests raise tensions

Update | Protesters, police clash in Mong Kok as 'Guy Fawkes' flash protests raise tensions