Sat 24 August 2019:
Thousands of demonstrators, many wearing hard hats and gas masks, on Saturday marched through the industrial Kwun Tong area, where they were blocked by dozens of riot police with shields and batons outside a police station.
Frontline protesters – known as the “Braves” – pulled together a barricade of traffic barriers and bamboo construction poles. As the afternoon wore on, some fired stones from slingshots, prompting a charge from police, wielding batons and pepper spray.
Tears gas swept across the road as protesters retreated, leaving a trail of broken bottles and at least one small fire in their wake as pro-democracy protests entered their 12th week on Saturday.
Several of the black-clad protesters were detained as officers swept through.
Four metro stations were shut down around Kwun Tong, a densely populated area on the east of the Kowloon peninsula, but thousands packed the streets anyway, most carrying umbrellas against the sun despite hazy skies in the former British colony
Hong Kong’s police force has become the target of the protesters’ ire for its perceived heavy-handed response to the months of demonstrations.
Antipathy has soared towards the police, who have used baton charges, rubber bullets and tear gas against hardcore protesters, but are also accused of beating peaceful demonstrators.
The Hong Kong protests began in June following the introduction of a controversial extradition bill that would allow for citizens of and visitors to Hong Kong to be extradited to mainland China.
Although the bill has since been shelved, protests against the Hong Kong government and increased Chinese influence have continued for months.
Demonstrators say they are fighting the erosion of the “one country, two systems” arrangement that enshrines a high degree of autonomy for Hong Kong since it was handed back from British to Chinese rule in 1997.
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