Last night, two months into the protest, Mong Kok saw some of the Umbrella Movement’s most violent events so far as police officers and bailiffs attempted to clear barricades. Scuffles and arrests continued through the night, with the situation calming down by morning, when bailiffs returned to continue their work.
According to the AP, at least 116 people have been arrested so far in Mong Kok, with Joshua Wong and Lester Shum arrested this morning.
The police have upped the ante, debuting new and improved strategies for crowd control during last night’s clashes.
In the Vine below, posted at around 8pm by Kris Cheng, police officers are seen standing on top of a mobile platform while using CS spray, which is basically like pepper spray, but on steroids. Of course, next to the sprayer is the ever-present police officer who videotapes their actions.
Another Vine shows Cheng getting hit by the CS spray:
Unsurprisingly, the action only riled up the protesters more:
This image shows the police using the spray on a demonstrator:
The following video apparently shows clashes on Shantung Street at 11pm:
The police were using batons on the protesters:
After midnight, the scene was chaotic. Protesters are seen throwing objects at police officers.
This video apparently shows a Now TV cameraman getting arrested at around 12:40am:
At 3am, the scene had calmed to a standoff:
The tension remained through to 4am:
There were reports of injuries from protesters and journalists alike:
Here’s a video roundup of the clashes posted to YouTube by user Amel Semmache:
Photo: Desiree Fa via Twitter
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