Hong Kong police defended pulling out their guns and firing a warning shot during anti-government protests over the weekend. | AP
Assistant Police Commissioner Mak Chin-ho said one officer fired into the air and six held up their revolvers after protesters charged them repeatedly with metal poles, long sticks and road signs on Sunday night.“Their use of force was indeed necessary and reasonable,” he told a news conference at police headquarters.
Pro-democracy members of the Legislative Council countered that the government and the police need to take responsibility, the former for introducing the extradition legislation that sparked the protests and the latter for what they say is selective enforcement of the law targeting government opponents.
At a government news conference, Matthew Cheung, the chief secretary for administration, said the protesters’ actions show a total disregard for law and order and called them unacceptable. On Saturday, protesters damaged several “smart” lampposts installed by the city, cutting at least one down with a circular electric saw.
The protests started in early June with the now-suspended extradition bill, which would have allowed suspects to be sent to mainland China to face trial, and has expanded to encompass a general concern that China is chipping away at the rights of Hong Kong residents.
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