Halloween protests in Hong Kong: police fire tear gas in Mong Kok, Central and Sheung Wan as people denounce alleged force brutality and march against mask ban
- Streets in bar district Lan Kwai Fong barricaded with water barriers for the first time while increased police presence already on the streets
- Protesters gather across the city to mark two months since police operation in Prince Edward MTR station and to march from Victoria Park
Halloween festivities in Hong Kong took on a darker than usual hue on Thursday night as police fired tear gas to disperse protesters in Mong Kok and Central who had gathered against alleged brutality by the force and in open defiance of a ban on masks.
After roads in the downtown hub of Central were occupied by more than 1,000 protesters, the force fired multiple rounds of tear gas on Pedder Street. Further up the road in the clubbing district of Lan Kwai Fong, police used pepper spray on a crowd of mostly reporters while two women were arrested.
A police source also confirmed an assistant clerical officer from the chief secretary’s office was arrested for unlawful assembly, wearing a mask and assaulting a police officer in Mong Kok.
The actions were just one of many throughout the evening that began in Mong Kok. Protesters surrounded Mong Kok Police Station and stood outside Prince Edward MTR station from late afternoon. At around 7pm police dispensed tear gas and pepper spray as protesters hurled water bottles at police wagons and threw bricks prised from the pavements to obstruct traffic.
They also vandalised traffic lights and exits of Mong Kok MTR station, forcing the station to close, before starting a fire on Nathan Road at about 9pm.
During the police operation in Central, a man RTHK identified as one of its video journalists was hit with pepper spray by police after he asked officers to show him their identification numbers.