Phila Siu, Joyce Ng and Timmy Sung
South China Morning Post
October 20, 2014
Violent clashes between protesters and police have become a regular occurrence in Mong Kok.
Protesters man the barricades in Mong Kok early yesterday. There have been violent clashes in the area since police reclaimed part of the rally site on Friday. Photo: Sam Tsang
Concerns are growing that the Occupy movement in Mong Kok has spun out of control and is on the verge of turning into a riot, after nights of violent clashes since police reclaimed part of the rally site on Friday.
New clashes erupted between protesters and police in Mong Kok early yesterday, just hours after Chief Secretary Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor announced that talks with student leaders were scheduled for tomorrow.
Some protesters tried to remove barricades on the junction of Nathan Road and Argyle Street shortly after midnight, prompting officers to warn them against charging police cordons.
Officers then used batons to counter the protesters’ umbrellas. At about the same time, police reinforcements arrived and rushed into the protest zone to push the crowds back.
Images of protesters with blood streaming down their faces circulated on social media.
One protester said he saw plainclothes policemen hitting protesters after they moved into the protest zone. “I saw anti-triad officers hitting protesters with batons. Several protesters suffered head injuries and were bleeding. They also dismantled supply stations,” said the protester, who gave his surname as Lo.
Another protester blamed police for the violence. I was here last night and the police were hitting the protesters on their heads and arms with their batons. But the protesters were not doing anything,” said the 26-year-old elderly care centre worker.
A police source said officers were trained to aim at the torso. “But in reality, due to many factors, it’s sometimes unavoidable that the head or legs get hit,” the source said.
Labour Party lawmaker Fernando Cheung Chiu-hung told a talk show he was worried. “I have been to Mong Kok many times, and it is on the verge of a riot,” he said. “But it is very simple to handle the situation. The government needs to respond to the public’s demands.”
Winnie Chiu Wai-yin, acting director of the police force’s management services, said the Mong Kok protest zone was “very dangerous” with radical elements infiltrating the crowd.
She told people to stop charging at police cordons, and said police “did not want to be embroiled in the political turmoil”.
But the Federation of Students’ deputy leader Lester Shum said protesters were holding up their hands when their heads were bloodied by police batons.
“If you say this is a riot, it was only caused by police who used force. Only [Chief Executive] Leung Chun-ying is able to control the movement now,” he said.
Yvonne Leung Lai-kwok, another spokeswoman for the federation, also denied the movement had spun out of control.
She said that even when some protesters wanted to storm the roads, other protesters tried to stop them. But before they had the chance to do so, the police had used pepper spray, she said.
Secretary for Food and Health Dr Ko Wing-man told the protesters that violence was counter productive. “I am very concerned about the recent direction of [Occupy], especially what seems to be evidence pointing to purposeful violence and attacks in Mong Kok,” Ko said.
Dr Au Yiu-kai, medical head of the Occupy Central movement, said his team treated 13 protesters during the latest clashes.
“And seven of them sustained injuries to their heads with blood streaming down their faces. The police were hitting them with their batons. That was not minimum force as the police have claimed,” Au said.
“Some of them refused to get treated in hospital because they feared they would get arrested. Hitting people with batons can cause concussion and fracture the skull. It could be fatal.”
Police said four men aged 25 to 37 were arrested during the early hours of yesterday on suspicion of assault, possession of offensive weapons and disorderly conduct in a public place.
Police also said three protesters and five police officers were injured.
Hospital Authority figures showed that 20 people were injured from 10pm on Saturday to 6am yesterday due to the Occupy movement.
