Hong Kong police arrest two suspected of inciting others via social media to commit murder, arson targeting officers

Arrests come days after 50-year-old man stabbed police officer in back before fatally plunging knife into his own chest

Police decline to say whether pair’s case is linked to July 1 attack, but note comments were posted a day after the incident

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Police have arrested two people accused of inciting others to commit arson and murder officers. Photo: Warton Li

Published: 3:54pm, 4 Jul 2021Updated: 5:11pm, 5 Jul 2021

A man and a woman suspected of using social media to incite others to set fire to Hong Kong police stations and murder officers were arrested on Sunday, just days after a 50-year-old man stabbed a constable in the back before fatally plunging the knife into his own chest.

While police declined to say whether the pair’s case was believed to be linked to the attack on July 1, they noted the “abusive comments and inciting messages” were allegedly posted by the 20-year-old woman and 26-year-old man on two unspecified social media platforms a day after the incident.

“The investigation is still under way, and police will not rule out further arrests,” said Superintendent Wilson Tam Wai-shun, who did not disclose the number of messages posted, but stressed the seriousness of their content.

According to a source, the man worked in advertising, while the woman was a student. They were accused of making the offending posts on the encrypted messaging app Telegram and the local online forum LIHKG, both popular among protesters during the 2019 social unrest.

Police investigate the stabbing of an officer in Causeway Bay on July 1 by a man who then turned the knife on himself. Photo: Reuters

The arrests came as police said on Sunday that a preliminary investigation suggested the assailant in the “lone-wolf” knife attack last week had been “radicalised by myriad fake information”.

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Hong Kong police arrest two suspected of inciting others via social media to commit murder, arson targeting officers

Arrests come days after 50-year-old man stabbed police officer in back before fatally plunging knife into his own chest Police decline to say whether pair’s case is linked to July 1 attack, but note comments were posted a day after the incident

Arrests come days after 50-year-old man stabbed police officer in back before fatally plunging knife into his own chest

Police decline to say whether pair’s case is linked to July 1 attack, but note comments were posted a day after the incident