Tear gas fired in Mong Kok stand-off as protesters target police station and block roads in escalating anger at force amid two-day citywide strike
- Arrests made after demonstrators block a section on Nathan Road
- Tensions follow earlier stand-off in Admiralty after rally at Tamar Park
Police in Mong Kok fired tear gas and made arrests on Monday night after anti-government protesters blocked roads and chanted slogans amid escalating anger towards the force.
Officers resorted to tear gas after a crowd, including residents and reporters, converged on them and demanded to know why they had arrested two protesters.
Earlier, a 300-strong group had disrupted traffic on Nathan Road after a tense stand-off with officers outside Mong Kok Police Station. Protesters sprayed graffiti saying “Every time police come, we destroy an MTR station” on a wall, while others chanted: “If we burn, you burn with us.”
Some threw eggs at the police station and pointed laser beams, after which they proceeded to block a road intersection, with police raising the orange flag warning, indicating crowd control weapons would be deployed if people did not leave.
Riot police, including the Special Tactical Squad, known as Raptors, arrived on the scene and moved in on protesters as most of them fled to Portland Street.
Separately, political party Demosisto, one of the organisers of the citywide school boycotts on Monday, said on its Facebook page that its vice-chairman Isaac Cheng Ka-long was attacked on his way home in Tai Wai.