Hong Kong protests: police fire pepper spray as hundreds gather in Central to mark first anniversary of historic march against extradition bill

Name: Hong Kong police fire pepper spray as hundreds gather to mark first anniversary of historic march
Uploaded: 2020-06-09T11:18:50.000Z
Duration: 1 min 36 s
Description: Hong Kong police fire pepper spray as hundreds gather to mark first anniversary of historic march

In a game of cat and mouse, protesters disperse as police charge and then regroup and stream back onto the streets after officers leave

Police officers, who raised a blue flag warning of an illegal assembly a number of times, arrest 53 people in Central

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Riot police are deployed to stop protesters occupying the road in Central. Photo: May Tse

Natalie WongandLaura Westbrook

Published: 7:18pm, 9 Jun 2020Updated: 2:43pm, 10 Jun 2020

Police fired pepper spray to disperse protesters and made dozens of arrests on Tuesday after hundreds took to the streets of downtown Hong Kong to mark the first anniversary of a historic march against the now-withdrawn extradition bill that became a watershed moment in the city’s anti-government movement last year.

Early in the evening, hundreds of protesters marched along busy streets in the city’s business district, bringing traffic to a standstill on Queen’s Road Central and Des Voeux Road, while ignoring coronavirus-related social-distancing rules.

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Hong Kong police fire pepper spray as hundreds gather to mark first anniversary of historic march

Shortly before that, at least 100 people took part in an unauthorised gathering in Central’s Chater Garden, with police declaring it an unlawful assembly at 6.35pm.

Many of the protesters held up their phones with the flashlight on, while others opened their umbrellas to hide their identities.

Hundreds of protesters gather in Central on Tuesday night. Photo: Dickson Lee

Some waved flags advocating “Hong Kong independence” as they marched. Banners of “Heaven will destroy the CCP [Chinese Communist Party]” and “US troops please help to protect Hong Kong” were also displayed. Some protesters verbally abused police officers.

A squad of riot police ran towards marchers on Des Voeux Road Central and used pepper spray to disperse them. Officers raised a blue flag, warning of an illegal assembly, a number of times.

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