After a day of failed flash protests around the city, Hong Kong protesters have turned out to New Town Plaza in Sha Tin for a “Sing With You” demonstration in one of the biggest protests in recent months.
The sing-along was scheduled to begin at 7:30, but Studio Incendo reported that plainclothes police officers were already stopping and searching teenagers at the shopping mall an hour beforehand. Shops began closing shortly afterward.
At least a hundred riot police officers descended upon the mall at around 7pm and began putting up cordons while ordering people to leave. On a police livestream, protesters and a local district councilor were heard asking how they were supposed to leave when the police officers were keeping them penned in.
During the same livestream, a police spokesman said officers had deployed pepper spray at around 7:15pm after they told protesters to leave “several times” for violating the anti-epidemic ban on groups of more than four people.
Police in anti-riot gear empty the shopping mall where #antiELAB protesters have assembled chanting slogans and effectively testing the social distancing restrictions put forward by the Hong Kong govt to counter the #coronavirus outbreak. #HongKongProtests pic.twitter.com/EHgILBuQrp
— Ezra Cheung (@ezracheungtoto) May 1, 2020
By about 8:15pm, police had cleared most of the protesters from the mall’s atrium, while those who were remaining continued chanting “dirty cops”. Starting at 8:20pm, a police officer holding a megaphone announced that everyone on the third floor, whether they were “a journalist or anyone else” was violating the public gathering ban and repeatedly ordered them to leave.
A representative for the journalists argued back that they had the right to be there, and that police were blocking the only exit out of the mall. At 8:35pm, police began forcefully pushing everyone back into a crowded corridor. A red-shirted male protester, who had loudly heckled police, was pulled behind a cordon and surrounded by police for questioning. He was later issued a piece of paper and physically escorted downstairs by two officers.
Local media outlets reported that an estimated 3,000 police officers were deployed throughout Hong Kong today to quell potential Labor Day protests. The annual Labor Day march was canceled for the first time in over 30 years after the police force rejected the organizers’ application last week. Following the rejection, some netizens called on each other to stage “flash mob” style protests in five districts, which largely failed to materialize.
Instead, many protesters chose to support the fight for democracy by “voting with their wallets” and creating a yellow ribbon version of Golden Week. Pro-democracy netizens urged each other to patronize yellow ribbon businesses, some of which were said to be offering deep discounts for customers who showed them the “five demands, not one less” hand gesture.
Earlier today, the Labor Party said that its vice-chairman, Mak Tak-ching, was arrested at around 11am while attempting to march from Admiralty Center to LegCo. The party said that marchers were split into groups of four and wearing masks, but were still penalized by police officers for contravening anti-epidemic measures. Eight participants were given fixed penalty tickets, while Mak was arrested on suspicion of obstructing police.
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