An unidentified man was caught on camera splashing red paint onto a prominent pro-democracy lawmaker’s office in the New Territories early Tuesday morning.
CCTV footage published by the Hong Kong Economic Times shows a man — wearing a black shirt, face mask, and cap — appear outside Lam Cheuk-ting’s office in Sha Tin at about 4:10am and throw red paint onto his door and windows for about 10 seconds before appearing to throw something towards the camera.
The Democratic Party lawmaker posted a photo of his office on Facebook today with the caption: “Do you think by doing this you can scare me?”
He added that this was the second time in a little over two months that he’s been attacked — likely a reference to the attacks at Yuen Long MTR station in July, which saw a group of men in white shirts indiscriminately attack pro-democracy protesters, journalists, and commuters with bamboo sticks and metal rods. Lam fractured his right arm and cut his lip in the melee.
https://www.facebook.com/LamCheukTing.Official/photos/a.535010766566181/2387341977999708/?type=3&theater
Ming Pao reports that Lam has reported the incident to the police, who are treating it as a criminal damage case.
It’s not clear who was responsible for the incident, but triad gangs are known to splash red paint onto storefronts, restaurants, and homes as an intimidation tactic.
Lam isn’t the first pro-democracy figure to be targeted this way.
Ming Pao reports that Zachary Wong Wai-yin, a Yuen Long district councillor from the Democratic Party, had red paint splashed outside his office door on Aug. 27. Wong told the outlet that about a week prior to the incident, he received a threatening letter accusing him of “causing chaos in society,” and warning him to “watch out for your door.”
Stand News reports that Ventus Lau — who was responsible for organizing a major Tsim Sha Tsui rally in July — also had red paint splashed onto his front door, and that hours earlier he had received a threatening message from someone called Erin Cai, who had warned him that “there are lots of people who want you dead,” adding that if he kept “playing about like this and don’t stop, we will have to go… and help you prepare for a ritual.”
The vandalism was also reminiscent of far grosser incident last week, in which district councillor Leung Kam-wai had his office defaced by a middle-aged woman who smeared feces onto his door and jammed it into his keyhole.
