The poster I carried at last Sunday's protest march
The reputation of the Hong Kong police is currently in
a similar state to the police barricade tape in the above photo
Hong Kong has seen more awesome acts of civil disobedience today. Rather than amaze in terms of their sheer numbers, what's been astounding is how thousands of protesters have employed tactics that appear to have been inspired Bruce Lee's "flow like water". After a quiet night of protest outside the Legislative Council Complex, people gathered in the morning for an escalation of protests in response to the deadline given for the government to accede to protesters' requests on matters such as the currently "paused" (but not withdrawn) extradition bill and the police misconduct that occurred on June 12th having passed without acknowledgement by Carrie Lam and Co.
Harcourt Road, the major highway located near the government headquarters that many protest march participants were denied access to two Sundays ago, was occupied for periods of time and barricades erected on Gloucester Road. Protesters also surrounded and shut down a number of government offices, including those at Revenue Tower and Immigration Tower in Wan Chai, and the Queensway Government Offices and High Court in Admiralty.
And on the day that Amnesty International released a report verifying that police violence had taken place against protesters in Hong Kong, protesters made their ire against, and disrespect of, the force that used to pride itself on being Asia's Finest -- but whose brutal behavior on June 12th shocked the world -- very clear when they converged on the Hong Kong police headquarters and laid siege to it. With their demands for police chief Stephen Lo to come out and account for himself and the force he commands unmet, the crowd got bigger and bigger, and angrier and angrier.
In all honesty, I would not have been surprised if violence had erupted -- and am hoping and praying that there continues to be no violence in the nights and days of continued protest that lie ahead. At the same time, I can't help but feel that Hong Kong is currently like a powder keg, and will remain so until the extradition bill is killed once and for all, and Carrie Lam steps down -- at the very least.
For it should not be forgotten, amidst all the bad feelings that people have for the police, that the events of June 12th that have made the cops such a enemy of the people would in all likelihood not have happened if not for that arrogant woman publicly announcing her decision to ignore the message, and defy the will, of the one million Hong Kongers who marched in protest against the extradition bill she sought to ram through into law.
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