Hong Kong protests: court finds builder guilty of attempted robbery for trying to grab gun from officer felled by flying kick
- The incident was captured in a widely circulated video that showed the defendant attacking the officer after he was knocked to the ground by an unknown assailant
- Judge finds the defendant had no reason to attack an officer in full riot gear other than to grab his weapon
Tse Shun-shing, 31, had previously pleaded guilty to taking part in an unlawful assembly and assaulting a police officer during the demonstration in Mong Kok on October 13, 2019, but denied trying to steal the officer’s Remington shotgun outside the Grand Plaza shopping centre that afternoon.
In a widely circulated video, the officer, identified only as X in court, can be seen attempting to detain a young protester who is being helped by an unidentified woman. The young protester was later identified as Tse’s co-defendant, 19-year-old student Chan Ka-chun, who pleaded not guilty to one count of resisting a police officer.
In the video, as the policeman grapples with the two others, a black-clad man suddenly leaps into frame, landing a flying kick to the officer’s chest and knocking him to the ground. Tse, who was nearby, can then be seen charging towards the officer and punching him in the head three times, before appearing to attempt to grab his weapon.
Both Tse and Chan were arrested in the vicinity several minutes later. The man who landed the kick, however, is still at large.
During his trial at the District Court last month, Tse maintained he had only intended to hurt the policeman, not grab his weapon. Tse’s counsel also submitted that the defendant could not have committed the crime due to the minimal chance of success.