Hong Kong protests: at least 289 arrested as scattered groups heed online calls to rally on postponed election day
- Heavy police presence continues late into the evening, hours after officers use pepper balls and pepper spray against protesters
- Hongkongers were supposed to be casting their votes on Sunday to choose lawmakers for the next term but elections were postponed due to health crisis
There was a heavy police presence in the area late into the evening, hours after officers had used both pepper spray and pepper balls in dispersal operations against anti-government protesters. That came after scattered groups of people had heeded online calls by anonymous activists, who aimed to mobilise 50,000 protesters on what would have been Legislative Council polls day.
The groups that gathered in the Jordan neighbourhood were small at first, but protesters later spread to nearby Mong Kok and Yau Ma Tei.
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At least 289 arrested as scattered groups rally over postponed election day
In Mong Kok, police fired pepper balls at protesters at about 5pm. Nearby, officers raised a purple flag warning those chanting the “Liberate Hong Kong; revolution of our times” slogan that they could be arrested for violating the sweeping security law.
Chaotic scenes erupted when several plain-clothes officers pepper-sprayed and wrestled protesters to the ground. Baton-wielding officers then went for other demonstrators and had water bottles thrown at them.
Among anti-government slogans chanted near Jordan MTR station were calls for the city to be independent from Chinese rule.
As of 9pm, police said, one woman had been arrested on suspicion of violating the national security law for chanting slogans that promoted Hong Kong independence.
