With thick red wounds crisscrossing his back and arms, a Hong Kong chef recalled his terror as suspected triad members attacked him in the mistaken belief he was a pro-democracy protester during pro-Beijing thugs’ savage assault on Yuen Long MTR station on Sunday.
Calvin So, 23, said he had just finished work at a restaurant and was heading home when the gangsters attacked, highlighting the fact that many unwitting commuters were also caught up in the violence that saw scores of journalists, protesters, and a politician injured.
So, who remained in hospital on Wednesday, recounted a merciless response from the men when he told them he was not one of the protesters.
“They started to threaten me and surround me,” So said. “Then one of them hit me.”
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“I thought there was some misunderstanding,” he said, explaining he was wearing a grey t-shirt — not the black generally favored by the protesters — and the rubber Crocs often worn in kitchens.
“I told them that I just got off work, I’m still wearing my work shoes, I’m not your target.”
But So said he was bundled quickly to the ground as the group rained blows on his body with canes and sticks, ignoring his pleas for them to stop.
So took off his shirt to showcase his wounds to AFP, revealing a patchwork of red welts and wounds that he said had been so painful that he had been unable to sleep on Sunday.
So declined to discuss his own political views, but he made clear he had been left shaken by the fact that the gangsters could act with such impunity.
Police were conspicuously absent during the nearly 40-minute onslaught at Yuen Long, arriving only after the mob had mostly dispersed. However, images and videos circulating widely on social media appear to show police speaking calmly with men believed to have been involved in the attack without taking action.
“My confidence in the police has decreased a lot,” Sai said, adding he would change the route he usually took to work in future.
Police vowed to investigate the attacks the next day, and by Tuesday 11 men had been arrested for their alleged involvement in the attacks, including some with suspected triad backgrounds. Hospital authorities, meanwhile, said 45 people were wounded in the violence.
One man was still in critical condition and another in serious condition, a hospital spokesperson said yesterday.
The violence was filmed by victims and bystanders on mobile phones, with some of it broadcast live on Facebook and other scenes later going viral on social media.
They showed the gangsters — most wearing white T-shirts and carrying bats, sticks and metal poles — setting upon the demonstrators and others at the entrance to Yuen Long train station.
Triads randomly beating citizens in Yuen Long MTR, yet NO police arrived on site one hour after citizens called 999 emergency line.#HongKongProtest #FreedomHK #antiELAB pic.twitter.com/7GEoqaf6ls
— Freedom HK (@FreedomHKG) July 21, 2019
The attack piled further pressure on Hong Kong’s embattled police force, with critics accusing it of reacting too slowly to the incident, and the city’s pro-Beijing leader Carrie Lam.
At a press conference yesterday convened by pro-democracy lawmaker Lam Cheuk-ting, who was also injured in the attacks, other witnesses described watching the gang beat up passengers on a moving train, with some showing wounds they had received.
Yuen Long is situated near the China border, where criminal gangs and staunchly pro-Beijing rural committees remain influential.
Similar assaults by pro-government vigilantes against demonstrators during the 2014 “Umbrella Movement” protests were also blamed on triads.
But protesters appear uncowed, flagging another protest at Yuen Long this weekend.
“We need to come out to show people that Hong Kong people will not surrender… and reclaim Yuen Long and oppose triad terror,” said organizer Max Chung.
