Hong Kong protests: tear gas, arrests and train stations trashed as anger over new anti-mask law rolls in fourth straight day
- Hundreds gather in Tai Koo, Mong Kok and Tseung Kwan O, setting up roadblocks in some spots, while riot police fire tear gas and non-lethal rounds
- Student and an unemployed woman granted bail by a court after they became the first to be charged under the mask ban
Protesters blocked roads, set off fires and trashed MTR stations in multiple locations in Hong Kong on Monday evening after relative calm on the fourth straight day of demonstrations against a new anti-mask law.
The demonstrations began peacefully at several malls in the late afternoon, after a university student and an unemployed woman became the first to be charged under the mask ban targeting anti-government protesters. Both were granted bail.
Since Friday, radical protesters have gone on a rampaging spree, vandalising banks and stores associated with mainland China, trashing government buildings and train stations, targeting police by lobbing significantly bigger petrol bombs, and engaging in bloody fist fights.
The gatherings on Monday were relatively smaller and less violent, but as night fell, protesters showed up in Mong Kok and Tseung Kwan O, with some setting up roadblocks in another confrontation with riot police, who fired tear gas and non-lethal rounds. Many were arrested.
Into the evening, hundreds continued to block roads in Tai Koo and Mong Kok, with a march starting towards Yau Ma Tei. Sixteen train stations were vandalised, including Tseung Kwan O, Tsuen Wan, Sha Tin, Sha Tin Wai and City One, and five Light Rail stops.