Riot police clash with protesters as Hong Kong march descends into violence

Nine people have been injured in clashes between demonstrators and police during Saturday’s march in Yuen Long, Hong Kong’s Hospital Authority said.

Five people are in a serious condition in Pok Oi Hospital, while another four are stable. Almost all of those injured were male.

The authority wouldn’t give any further information on their injuries or whether they were police or protesters.

But the government said their ages range from 22 to 56.

Police declined to grant protesters a letter of no objection for Saturday’s demonstration, classifying it as an unauthorized assembly, owing to safety concerns.

Lines of riot police are pushing towards the last remaining Yuen Long protesters, who have taken shelter behind barricades and umbrellas.

Multiple canisters of tear gas were fired as the lines advanced. There are more than a dozen police cars and vans parked behind the police lines.

Protesters wait inside Yuen Long subway station for word on whether to stay or go.

Rubber bullet casings were also found on the ground after the police left, confirming they’d been used earlier in the day against protesters.

As police moved in, Yuen Long subway station was filled with protesters clearly unsure about whether to stay or leave.

Protesters line up inside an MTR station in the Yuen Long district of Hong Kong on July 27.

Yuen Long has become an unlikely focal point of the city’s pro-democracy movement after protesters returning to the town were viciously attacked by a mob wielding iron bars and bamboo sticks last weekend.

Six men have been arrested in connection with the attack. The men, whose ages range from 24 to 54, will face charges of “unlawful assembly” police said in a press conference earlier this week. Their motives are still under investigation but police said some of those arrested had links to local criminal gangs known as triads.

Footage posted on social media Sunday night showed a marauding gang of masked men, wearing white T-shirts and wielding batons and sticks, blindly attacking crowds on the platform and inside train carriages at Yuen Long metro station.

Protesters were reportedly at the mercy of the mob for almost an hour before police arrived and at least 45 people were injured.

One week later, three people remain in hospital, one of whom is in a critical condition.

Police have begun to clear journalists away from the area in Yuen Long occupied by protesters, as today’s demonstration enters what appears to be its final stages.

Dozens of riot police, carrying shields and batons, have formed lines in front of a number of police cars and vans.

Riot police block a road into the Yuen Long district in Hong Kong on Saturday.

Just a few hundred protesters remain outside the Yuen Long station. They have bunkered down with barricades in an attempt to hold off police.

As protesters move towards the rail platforms, some signs have been put up to warn those entering the station which corridors have security cameras.

The signs show something of the paranoia which has gripped many of the protesters in recent weeks, as fears swirl of future recriminations.

Photo from Yoho Mall in Yuen Long says "Has camera," warning protesters

Hong Kong police fire tear gas at protesters during a demonstration in the district of Yuen Long.

An estimated 288,000 marched in Yuen Long today to protest against excessive violence used against demonstrators, according to organizer Max Chung.

Chung said he came to that estimate using Google Maps, calculating the area of the street and the number of protesters.

Unlike in previous protests there will be no estimate from the Hong Kong police. Saturday’s march was officially illegal and as such was not counted by law enforcement.

Chung said he called on Hong Kong’s police to remember why they joined the force in the first place. “They are here to protect the citizens of Hong Kong,” he said.

Located less than 10 kilometers (6 miles) from Hong Kong’s border with China, Yuen Long is closer to the mainland city of Shenzhen than it is to Hong Kong’s iconic Victoria Harbor.

The area is known for smuggling, both of goods and people, while decades of police operations to combat triads, which operate on both sides of the border, have failed to stamp out organized crime in the area.

It is the latest part of Hong Kong to host the protests which have spread across the region over the past two months.

Protesters walk on a bridge as they move back to Yuen Long MTR station on Saturday.

There is an ongoing standoff between a few hundred Yuen Long protesters and the Hong Kong police outside the town’s subway station.

Some of the remaining marchers have built a barricade between them and lines of riot police, with metal barriers and plastic bollards.

It’s unclear what precisely will happen next, though many protesters now appear intent on digging in for the long haul. Almost everyone in the crowd is wearing protective gear and yellow hardhats.

Many other demonstrators though are already on their way home. Despite earlier scenes of violence, many vowed to come back out again tomorrow for Sunday’s protest on Hong Kong Island.

Riot police stand behind shields as they face off protesters in Yuen Long Saturday.

One protester who was attempting to make his way home told CNN that demonstrations would continue on whatever happens during the next few weeks.

“Next year, the election, it’s the most important time in Hong Kong. Because if we lose that election, Hong Kong may be lost to the Chinese government,” the protesters said.

Chinese flags are waved at a rally in support of the police in Hong Kong on July 20, 2019.

Not everyone in Hong Kong is in support of the pro-democracy demonstrators.

Up to 53,000 pro-government protesters filled Tamar Park on June 29, according to police estimates. They held placards and shouted slogans expressing support for Hong Kong police, who many pro-democracy protesters accuse of using excessive force.

Pro-democracy protesters showed up as well, leading to scuffles and confrontations between the two groups.

Last weekend, the pro-government, pro-police protesters marched again in a “Safeguard Hong Kong” rally, in which speakers condemned violence by the pro-democracy protesters. Police estimates say up to 103,000 people attended.

The protests have revealed and deepened a generational rift in Hong Kong society, leading to family feuds and social media spats. This disconnect between the two groups has complex roots – in national identity, a disparity in living standards and economic opportunity, as well as differing political values.

Crowds are rapidly thinning in Yuan Long but a few hundred core demonstrators remain, refusing to back down.

They’re surrounded by a large group of fully-equipped riot police, who are shinning flashing lights on demonstrators.

At 8 p.m. the police raised a blue flag, ordering protesters to leave.

Police shine a spotlight on a small group of remaining protesters in Yuen Long.

“This meeting or procession is in breach of the law. Disperse or we may use force,” read the flag.

Umbrella Movement protest leader Joshua Wong said on his official Twitter that he was still on “the frontline.”

Local parliamentarian and pro-democracy advocate Ray Chan has told protesters to head home as the sun sets in Hong Kong.

Hundreds of demonstrators are still on the streets despite a concerted police effort to clear the Yuen Long marchers who gathered this afternoon.

On his official Twitter, Chan told protesters to “leave … at your first opportunity.”

“Do not worry about paying train fare,” he said. “You can pay when you arrive. Single journey tickets are also available from volunteers.”

It isn’t just police who are concerning protest leaders. There are worries about a possible repeat of last weekend’s violence, when white-shirted men believed to be connected to triad gangs indiscriminately beat commuters at Yuen Long station with long sticks.