Timeline of the 2019–20 Hong Kong protests (October 2019)

On the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, Hong Kong protesters marked a "national day of mourning".[1] In defiance of a police ban on the annual march that the Civil Human Rights Front (CHRF) applied for, four veteran democrats led a rally from Causeway Bay to Central, mourning the victims of Chinese Communist Party rule and calling for the end of one-party rule in mainland China.[1] Simultaneously, protesters held rallies in Wong Tai Sin, Tuen Mun, Tsuen Wan, Sha Tin and Sham Shui Po,[1] which drew tens of thousands of participants altogether.[2] The protests were initially peaceful, but violent incidents occurred later during the day. MTR stations and businesses that were thought to be associated with the mainland were vandalized. [2]

External video

Footage of the shooting incident (HKFP)

Officers had fired multiple warning shots in locations such as Yau Ma Tei and Wong Tai Sin. In Tsuen Wan, a police officer fired a live round at Tsang Chi-kin, an 18-year-old male secondary school student, to his chest at point blank range with a revolver.[3][4] This incident happened as the man was assaulting the police officer who ran in to retrieve a fellow officer chased and beaten to the ground by a crowd of protesters.[3][4] Before being shot, the student was holding a white pipe and a kickboard; when collecting evidence after the shooting, the police took away his mask, his helmet, his kickboard along with a metal rod found from nearby, but without his white pipe.[5][6] It was the first live round fired at a person by the Hong Kong police in this series of protests.[2][7][8] The protester was taken to the emergency room of Princess Margaret Hospital and in critical condition.[9] The Hong Kong Police called the shooting "heartbreaking" and added that "[t]he police officers' lives were seriously threatened. To save his own and his colleagues' lives, [the officer] fired a live shot at the attacker."[2] The Foreign Secretary of the United Kingdom Dominic Raab said in a statement that "the use of live ammunition is disproportionate".[10] The Amnesty International urged "the Hong Kong authorities to urgently review their approach in policing the protests to de-escalate the situation and prevent more lives being put at risk" and reiterated its call for an independent investigation.[2][11]

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  Protesters throwing eggs at Communist Party general secretary Xi Jinping's portrait.
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  Protesters marching in Causeway Bay.
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  Two police officers firing warning shots to the sky then pointing to protesters in Yau Ma Tei.
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  Police shooting tear gas canister to protesters.
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  Police using blue-dye water cannon to disperse protesters.

Protesters gathered inside New Town Plaza, a shopping mall in Sha Tin, while folding paper birds.

Protests continued after Tsang was shot by the police. The students and the alumni of his secondary school Tsuen Wan Public Ho Chuen Yiu Memorial College rallied outside the campus to show their support for Tsang, who was charged with rioting and assaulting officers while still in hospital.[12] About 250 demonstrators gathered at West Kowloon Magistrates' Courts to support him and other protesters who were arrested.[13]

In the afternoon, protesters and office workers gathered in Central, Hong Kong and briefly occupied Connaught Road Central. They shouted slogans to condemn the Hong Kong police, such as "Hong Kong police intentionally commit murder" and "disband the police force now".[14] Protesters also showed up in Tsuen Wan, where they damaged a mahjong house said to have links to triad groups and started a fire near New Territories South Regional Police Headquarters. Protesters also briefly occupied roads and thoroughfares in Wong Tai Sin and Causeway Bay. In Tuen Mun, Tai Wai and Tseung Kwan O, protesters vandalised several MTR stations. Railway operator MTR Corporation became a target of vandalism after it was accused of cooperating with the police and closing its stations before major protests took place.[15]

On 3 October, protesters gathered at 11 shopping malls throughout Hong Kong, including New Town Plaza, Yoho Mall and APM to protest against the anti-mask law. The gathering in Cityplaza near Tai Koo station escalated into intense conflicts between protesters and the police, which used tear gas and pepper spray to disperse protesters. At 10:20 pm, the MTR announced that it would close the Kwun Tong station, in response to which protesters nearby damaged its facilities. The MTR then announced the imminent closure of Tai Po Market station, Ngau Tau Kok station and Tai Koo station.[16]

After Carrie Lam invoked the controversial Emergency Regulations Ordinance to impose a law which bans the wearing of face masks in public gatherings, many protesters defied the new law and wore face masks to show their discontent. Protesters first showed up in Central, Hong Kong and chanted slogans, such as "Hong Kong people, resist". After the government announced the enactment of the law, which would be effective the following midnight, many universities cancelled its afternoon classes and many malls closed early. The protesters became more radical at night and showed up in various districts in Hong Kong. Protesters occupied Harcourt Road, Nathan Road, Lung Cheung Road and other major thoroughfares.[17] They also damaged facilitates in several railway stations and Light Rail stations, causing the MTR to suspend all of its train services that day.[18] Pro-Beijing shops and corporations thought to have ties to Mainland China, such as Bank of China and Maxim's Catering, were vandalised.[17]

The riot police confronted the protesters in Aberdeen and fired the first tear gas canister in the Southern District. In Yuen Long, an off-duty officer was cornered and assaulted by the protesters after being suspected of bumping into protesters in his car. During the altercation, he shot a teenage boy with live ammunition in his left thigh, he was further assaulted by protesters, and had petrol bombs thrown at him. The police issued a statement saying that the officer acted in self defence.[19] The boy was admitted to Tuen Mun Hospital.[20] After midnight, riot police officers with full gear entered the hospital. Hospital Authority expressed concerns regarding the police's presence in the hospital because its staff and patients feared that they might obstruct the hospital's operations.[21]

The following day, many MTR stations, banks, and shops remained closed.[22] Lam said that the law was invoked only to quell the violence and she insisted that Hong Kong was not in an emergency state, depsite the use of the emergency regulations ordinance. Reuters described the introduction of the anti-mask law as "counterproductive or even inflammatory", while Vox opined that the new law might further infuriate the protesters.[23][24]

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  Protesters in Harcourt Road.
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  Protesters setting up roadblocks in Connaught Road, Central.
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  Graffiti on a wall, translates as "Hongkongers, revolt".
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  A pro-Beijing organisation office vandalised by protestors.
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  An MTR station vandalised by protestors.

Protesters staged demonstrations in various districts across the city, setting barricades on main thoroughfares and blocking traffic. Dozens of protesters occupied Castle Peak Road in Yuen Long, singing and chanting anti-government slogans. Several dozen protesters also blocked Lung Cheung Road at Wong Tai Sin, throwing “hell money” and disrupting traffic at some point. Meanwhile, barricades were put up on Nathan Road in Mong Kok, with protesters also surrounding the Mong Kok police station and hurling abuses.[25]

A very large group of people have started a defiant march in Causeway Bay to express their opposition to the government’s introduction of the anti-mask law. Many of the protesters were wearing face masks, an act that had become illegal as per the emergency laws. But many of the marchers, which some reports said numbered in thousands, ignored the new law.[26] Several hundred masked protesters formed a human chain and moved from Tsim Sha Tsui to Sham Shui Po, also in a demonstration against the government's new anti-face mask law.[27]

Protesters marched on the streets of Hong Kong Island and Kowloon on 6 October to protest Lam's decision to invoke the emergency law.[28] Protesters continued to wear different types of face masks in defiance of the anti-mask law. The march was largely peaceful until the police confronted the protesters and began shooting tear gas canisters. Hardline protesters began hurling objects and petrol bombs at the police while the latter deployed water cannons to disperse protesters. A RTHK reporter caught fire and suffered burns to his face after being hit by a Molotov cocktail in Wan Chai. RTHK condemned the use of violence and called all parties to show restraint.[29]

In an escalation of conflict in Sham Shui Po district in Kowloon, a taxi under attack from some protesters, inadvertently rammed into a crowd and severely injured a female protester. The driver, who was pulled out of the cab and immediately surrounded by a large crowd and badly beaten, was admitted to hospital with several rib fractures. The driver said he had lost HK$20,000 ($2,550) in cash and a watch valued at HK$140,000 during the course of the incident; his taxi was also damaged. Police classified the case as “rioting, wounding, criminal damage, theft, and traffic accident causing injury”.[30][31] Protesters accused the taxi driver of deliberately ramming his car into the crowd of protesters.[32] Actress Celine Ma was attacked by protesters after she filmed the protesters vandalising a Bank of China ATM in Mong Kok with her phone and provoked the protesters by attempting to punch and kick one of them.[33][34]

In Kowloon Tong, police arrested several students and entered the Hong Kong Baptist University campus without permission. At night, the garrison of People's Liberation Army raised a warning flag against the protesters who were shining laser light on the exteriors of the garrison building, marking the first military response during the protest.[35]

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  Protesters marching in Causeway Bay.
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  Police disperse crowd with tear gas.
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  Riot police in the streets at night.
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  Graffiti on the wall with Pepe the Frog, a symbol of the protest.
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  "Revolt" banner hung on a bridge.

Police forced their way into MOSTown on 8 October. The security guards were later charged by the police for obstruction.

On 8 October, protesters gathered inside the shopping mall MOSTown to sing several protest songs such as "Glory to Hong Kong". However, after some protesters vandalised the Ma On Shan station, a group of riot police stormed the plaza. A group of security guards attempted to guard the door to prevent their entry as the mall is a private area. During the storming, a reporter from Stand News who was live streaming was attacked by the police, who pepper-sprayed her, removed her glasses and took her charging cable. Disgruntled protesters later briefly protested outside Ma On Shan police station.[36]

Around the same time, protesters continued to confront with the police in various locations including Whampoa Garden, Mong Kok near Prince Edward station, Tai Po, and Tseung Kwan O, where a bicycle was thrown to a police officer who suffered injuries and was hospitalised.[36]

Hundreds of supporters of jailed pro-independence activists Edward Leung gathered outside Hong Kong's Court of Appeal and queued as early as sunrise to get a seat in the public gallery. Leung was jailed due to his involvement in the 2016 Mong Kok civil unrest and he has launched an appeal against his six-year prison sentence. Supporters chanted the slogan "liberate Hong Kong, the revolution of our times", which was Leung's campaign slogan during the 2016 New Territories East by-election.[37]

Dozens of people held a protest outside the Tsim Sha Tsui police station to mark World Sight Day by showing their support for a woman who suffered a serious eye injury during an anti-government protest on August 11. Protesters – many of them wearing masks in defiance of a new ban implemented last Saturday – chanted protest slogans and held up signs saying ‘five demands, not one less.’[38]

Over a thousand protesters marched in an unauthorized protest from Tsim Sha Tsui to Sham Shui Po to protest against the government's decision to invoke the emergency law. Protesters wore face masks in defiance of the anti-mask law. The march was largely peaceful with little police presence.[39]

Protesters confronted with the police after flashmobs of protesters showed up in various districts in Hong Kong including Mong Kok, Tseung Kwan O, Tsuen Wan, Kowloon Bay, Sha Tin and Tai Po. The flashmob strategy was used to avoid arrest as railway operator MTR Corporation was accused of cooperating with the police to arrest protesters.[40] Protesters continued to vandalize MTR stations, and sprayed graffiti on Chinese companies and pro-Beijing corporations. The police deployed tear gas to disperse the protesters in various districts.[41]

In Kwun Tong, a protester slashed the neck of a police sergeant from behind with a box cutter.[42][43][44] The officer, at the time, was handling a criminal damage case at Kwun Tong MTR station.[42][43] He suffered a 5 cm deep neck wound that severed a jugular vein and vocal cord from the protester's attack.[43] He was transported to United Christian Hospital[42][44] in serious condition.[42] Two people were arrested at the scene,[42][44] including the suspected assailant.[42] The suspect, an 18 year-old student, was later charged with wounding a uniformed police officer with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, which carries the maximum sentence of life imprisonment.[45][46] The injured officer continues to be doxxed after the attack,[43] with the senior public prosecutor Vincent Lee Ting-wai disclosing that the prosecution would apply for a gag order to ensure the injured officer's anonymity out of safety concerns.[46]

A homemade remote-controlled bomb was detonated, as told by the police, with the intention to kill or harm police officers.[47][48][49] The explosion was set off near police officers who were clearing a roadblock built by protesters[47][48] at the intersection between Fife Street and Nathan Road in Mong Kok.[47] There was no casualties reported.[50]

Chan Yin-lam, an avid swimmer and a protester, was declared dead in late September after her corpse was found floating naked in the sea near Yau Tong. Police claimed that after investigations, her death has "nothing suspicious", though many refused to trust the police. Students from Youth College and Hong Kong Design Institute (HKDI) Tiu King Leng campus gathered to demand the campus management to release the CCTV footage on the evening of 19 September, where Chan was last seen before her death. Campus management only released partial footage, causing disgruntled students to vandalize the glass panels of the campus.[51][52]

The Vocational Training Council has since released additional CCTV clips after 200 students, amid class suspension, rallied inside the campus to support an online appeal for an indefinite class boycott.[53] However, in a new development to clarify the death, the mother of the student believes her daughter committed suicide.[54]

Protesters gathered in Chater Garden, waving the American flag, and "Free HK" banners.

A rally, using the slogan "Fight with Hong Kong, justice to our victims," was held at night on 14 October at Chater Garden, calling on the United States to pass the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act of 2019, which would sanction officials for undermining autonomy in Hong Kong. Organiser Ventus Lau received a Letter of No Objection from the police, making this the first protest with police approval since the emergency law was invoked.[55] The rally began at 7 pm. Crowds split from the public park and onto adjacent roads, turned on their phone flashlights, and chanted protest slogans, such as "Hongkongers, resist". The crowd sang protest songs including "Glory to Hong Kong". The event saw speeches from several figures including activist Joshua Wong and politician Au Nok-hin. Organisers announced that more than 130,000 people took part in the rally. The government issued a statement saying that it regretted the assembly and criticised any foreign interference into the "internal affairs" of Hong Kong.[56]

Dozens of basketball fans took to Southorn Playground in Wan Chai to show their support for Daryl Morey and expressed their disdain for superstar Lebron James, after both stirred up controversy over their comments about the protests.[57]

During the night of 18 October, protesters organised a human chain protest against the anti-mask law. Some protesters distributed masks to other participants, while some chanted slogans such as "five demands, not one less".[58] Many protesters wore surgical masks to conceal their identity, though some also donned the photographic masks of Carrie Lam, Xi Jinping, Winnie the Pooh and Guy Fawkes.[59]

The moment that the Police's water cannon attacked Kowloon Mosque on 20 October 2019. Around 10 followers and citizens were outside the Mosque.

Following a police ban on a protest applied by the Civil Human Rights Front and the attack on CHRF convenor Jimmy Sham, protesters marched from Tsim Sha Tsui to the West Kowloon station to protest against the government's decision to invoke the emergency law and condemn police brutality. The peaceful protest was led by Figo Chan, the vice-convener of CHRF alongside former lawmakers including Albert Ho and Leung Kwok-hung, though some protesters splintered off to Nathan Road and it soon escalated into confrontations between the protesters and the police. The protesters continued to target MTR stations, Mainland Chinese-funded stores and Best Mart 360, which was accused of having ties to Fujianese triads, and hurled objects and petrol bombs at the police, whereas the police fired numerous tear gas canisters and deployed the water cannon trucks. The conflict soon spread to other districts in Hong Kong including Mong Kok and Sham Shui Po. Chan claimed that 350,000 people joined the march.[60]

After Sham was attacked by a group of suspected South Asians, pro-protest ethnic minorities showed their solidarity with the protesters by distributing cold water to them at the entrance of Chungking Mansions, while some local protesters guarded the Kowloon Masjid and Islamic Centre, demanding passerby not to vandalize the mosque out of retaliation. Before the protest, Sham had issued a statement, saying "Let us connect with and protect each other. Do not label anyone by ethnicity in the movement. I believe that everyone who joins this path to democracy are our brothers and sisters, regardless of nationality, language, color and race".[61]

However, the police's clearance action, which saw blue-dyed water being sprayed on the gates of the mosque, led to condemnation from CHRF and the Muslim community in Hong Kong. Volunteers arrived an hour later to help clean the gate, while the police issued a statement saying that the mosque was not its intended target and apologized to the mosque.[62] Carrie Lam later followed up with an official apology.[63] Former Indian Association of Hong Kong president Mohan Chugani, who was sprayed outside the mosque alongside lawmaker Jeremy Tam and businessman Phillip Khan, refused to accept Lam's apology, while Khan believed that the police intentionally sprayed the mosque and that the act was an "insult to the Islamic religion".[62][64]

The rally was initiated by Chow Shue Fung, the former president of the Chinese University of Hong Kong Student Union, and Ventus Lau to support the protesters in the 2019 Catalan protests. The organizers said that the number of gatherings exceeded 3,000 people.[65] Hong Kong protests have been cited as an inspiration by the Catalan protesters for its "leaderless" model.[66] A solidarity rally for the Hong Kong protests was held outside the Chinese Consulate-General in Barcelona on the same day.[67]

Hundreds of people formed a human chain in Tseung Kwan O saying they still believe the death of a 15-year-old student in the area is suspicious. Hong Kong Design Institute student Chan Yin-lam was last seen on the school’s campus in Tiu Keng Leng on September 19. Her body was found in the sea off Tseung Kwan O three days later.[68]

A peaceful rally of hundreds of medical professionals was conducted in a park in central Hong Kong. They protested against alleged violence employed by police against protesters, and also police arresting medical professionals working on the front-lines of the protests.[69]

An unauthorized protest was conducted in the afternoon near the Peninsula luxury hotel. Police were already present, and within minutes of the start of the protest, tear gas and pepper spray was employed as the protesters fought with police. This led to people in the Peninsula hotel lobby being affected by the tear gas. At night, police traveled northwards from Tsim Sha Tsui, employing tear gas and water cannons (but without stinging blue dyed water used the previous week).[69]

Many Tuen Mun residents reported an unknown irritating smell, suspected to be tear gas, starting from 4 pm. Smells that resemble that of tear gas were reported near Kin Sang Estate and Shek Pai stop; some people who felt unwell and were sent to hospital. Initially, firefighters suspected the smell to be the result of a chlorine leakage from Tuen Mun North West Swimming Pool, though staff at the swimming pool reported no gas leakage. It was later reported that the gas was leaked from Tai Hing Operational Base opposite Kin Sang Estate, though police denied that they had released any gas. In a joint statement, 10 District Council candidates from Tuen Mun condemned police for "neglecting the safety of local residents and testing tear gas near residential areas", requesting police to explain details of the situation and apologise to Tuen Mun residents.[70] Roy Kwong, a Democratic member of the Legislative Council, said he had sent a letter to the Hong Kong Police Force requesting Commissioner of Police Stephen Lo to explain whether police leaked tear gas or related gases, suspecting that in such a case the health of local residents and animals would be adversely affected.[71]

Several hundred people gathered at the Tai Hing Operational Base at night, in response to the irritating smell. Riot police were sent out to confront the crowd. Some protesters chanted slogans and pointed laser pens at officers, whilst police shone bright lights at the protesters. Protesters set up a makeshift roadblock on a street outside the base, threw bricks and a petrol bomb at a Bank of China branch, and damaged the glass door of a Fulum Group restaurant suspected to be sympathetic to gangs which have attacked them. Police responded with tear gas canisters after warning, some of which was fired onto the podium of Blossom Garden, a private housing estate nearby, and some to the seventh floor of Yat Sang House, Siu Hin Court.[72]

A second protest in response to the suspected tear gas leak occurred at night. More than 70 people, mostly Tuen Mun residents, were arrested. Man Shek Fong-yau, a former police constable who organised several pro-Beijing events, appeared outside the Tai Hing Operational Base at 8:30 pm with around 30 people. The group chanted the slogan "Hong Kong cockroaches, the vermin of the times", a play on the pro-democracy slogan "Liberate Hong Kong, the revolution of our times", and was seen arguing with residents. Residents refused to leave after police raised a blue warning flag stating that they were engaged in an unlawful assembly. Several black-clad protesters began to form roadblocks 20 minutes later.[73]

Police ordered residents to kneel down with their hands in the air or behind their backs at the lobby of Yat Sang House, Siu Hin Court. A man and a woman who appeared to taunt the police entered a Japanese restaurant in the area when officers tried to chase them. Two of the restaurant's shopkeepers refused to allow the police to enter the restaurant to arrest the pair. The police then pulled the shopkeepers out of the restaurant and arrested them, then ordered the original suspects to show their identification documents. At around midnight, protesters hurled petrol bombs at the police base, and the police responded by firing three bean bag rounds from inside the base.[73]