Violence, perpetrated by mostly masked youths wearing helmets, was on a scale that stunned the city of Hong Kong
The day was marred by an assault on the Legislative Council building in Admiralty, unprecedented in size and intensity, as hundreds of protesters demanding the complete withdrawal of the government’s now-suspended extradition bill attacked the glass front with makeshift battering rams.
Police advanced, clearing roadblocks and responding with tear gas as retreating protesters threw bricks, eggs and umbrellas at them. Earlier in the morning, while riot police battled hundreds of protesters near the venue with batons and pepper spray, the government, in an unprecedented retreat, moved its main celebration indoors at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center in Wan Chai, from where attending dignitaries watched a live broadcast of the flag-raising ceremony outside at Golden Bauhinia Square.
Injured officers experienced difficulty in breathing and complained of itchy and swollen skin, while the Organized Crime and Triad Bureau launched an investigation into what police said was an extremely serious offense. The protesters smashed open the glass door at a side entrance and were pepper-sprayed through the breach by officers inside, who had to put on heavy-duty masks at one stage as an unknown powder flung at them set off acrid fumes. It was later identified as lime.
They broke into the main chamber, spraying slogans on the walls, covering Hong Kong’s official emblem with black paint and draping a British colonial flag over the Legco president’s podium.
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