Hong Kong man praised deadly shopping centre stabbings in online posts, called for ‘random and bloody violence’ against residents

Rex Lee, 34, pleaded guilty at West Kowloon Court to two counts of incitement to wound for provocative messages he published on Facebook

Defendant wrote on social media about his delusional thoughts of being oppressed by society and his desire for ‘war and genocide’, court told

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The defendant will remain in Siu Lam Psychiatric Centre until sentencing on August 30. Photo: Edward Wong

Published: 7:01pm, 16 Aug 2023Updated: 8:45am, 17 Aug 2023

A Hong Kong man has admitted praising a deadly knife rampage at a shopping centre earlier this year in a series of social media posts urging random attacks on residents.

Rex Lee Chi-wai, 34, pleaded guilty at West Kowloon Court on Wednesday to two counts of incitement to wound for provocative messages he published on Facebook between May 30 and June 3 this year.

The court heard the defendant began writing on social media about his delusional thoughts of being oppressed by society and his desire for “war and genocide” more than eight months before his arrest.

Police arrested Lee on June 5 after the force stepped up online surveillance to clamp down on incitement of violence similar to the attack on two shoppers in eastern Kowloon three days earlier.

Two women were stabbed to death in a Hong Kong shopping centre in early June. Photo: Yik Yeung-man

A jobless man, Szeto Sing-kwong, 39, was charged with murdering two women at the Plaza Hollywood mall in Diamond Hill. He was remanded in a psychiatric hospital pending further police investigation.

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