A man from a church group, who had been subdued, was allegedly attacked by police in an alley in Yuen Long on Saturday when clashes and street fights continued over the weekend in Hong Kong.
Police arrested the man, a member of the “Protect Our Kids” group, at about 10pm and pulled him into an alley. Police then set a cordon and flashed lights at journalists to avoid being filmed.
A video surfaced on LIHKG, a local Reddit-like forum, and the Telegram on Sunday, which showed how the subdued man was attacked by police in an alley.
The video – shot from high up on a building – showed that the man, who wore a yellow vest, was surrounded by around 30 to 40 police officers in the alley. One officer appeared to kick the man in the waist.
Then someone yelled: “Police, don’t beat him! Stop, police, [we are] filming.”
At least two police shone flashlights back at the cameraman and yelled, “What are you filming?” with foul language.
The video camerawoman, named Winnie, told Apple Daily that she stood on a podium of the building and saw the police kick the man even though he had been subdued.
Winnie said the man did not react after being attacked and it looked like he had lost consciousness.
When she shouted at the police to stop their violence, the officers yelled back and kept calling her a “cockroach”, a term used by police or pro-Beijing supporters to describe protesters.
But when police realized that she was filming at them, they stopped the provocation.
‘Protect Our Kids’
“Protect Our Kids” is a group organized by a pastor of the Good Neighbor North District Church, Roy Chan Hoi Hing, after the extradition bill protests started in June.
Members including parents and elderly people. They wear yellow vests and stand between the police and protesters during clashes, hoping to scale down the confrontations. They usually shout at the police and tell them to calm down when tensions run high.
Chan on Sunday posted a statement on Facebook, confirmed that a member was arrested at Fung Yau Street North in Yuen Long and was charged with assaulting a police officer.
Chan said the arrest was made after “Uncle Chan”, a 73-year-old core member of “Protect Our Kids” was pushed down and pepper-sprayed by the police. Uncle Chan was released but another member was arrested later and taken into the alley.
The church and members of the group were furious about the attack. Pastor Chan said the incident was a repeat of the Ken Tsang assault – when seven police were captured on camera by a local TV broadcaster assaulting an activist in a dark corner in Admiralty during the Umbrella Movement in 2014. The officers were all found guilty of assault occasioning actual bodily harm in 2017.
Based on the footage and feedback from their members, they have strong reason to believe that injuries sustained by their member were caused by an abuse of police power, the statement said.
Sent to hospital
The arrested man was later sent to hospital for medical treatment as he felt dizzy and had an injured mouth. He was discharged from hospital and has been detained in police custody, Ming Pao Daily reported.
Meanwhile, more arrests were made with the help of undercover police.
On Sunday night in Mong Kok, police were seen moving in on protesters after they blocked roads and set fires outside Mong Kok police station.
Officers fired at least two bean bag rounds from elevated positions at the station, after protesters threw objects towards the station and shouted abuse at officers.
Reporters and protesters were pepper-sprayed after police rushed to confront dozens of demonstrators who had been chanting and aiming laser pointers at the station.
A woman dressed in black with her face covered by a black mask was spotted holding a baton next to a group of officers wearing police vests when they subdued a protester. No police warrant card was found on her clothes. When she was confronted by reporters who wanted to know whether she was an undercover cop, she did not respond.
One of the officers identified himself as the team leader said she was indeed one of his colleagues. The woman, together with at least four people also dressed in black like protesters, left the scene with the police group together.
Police admitted that a “decoy operation” was undertaken last month with undercover police among the protesters to collect intelligence. Some were dressed in black and wore facemasks, like most of the protesters.
Read: Protests and clashes continue in Hong Kong