Police fired brief volleys of tear gas at crowds.
Running battles raged for hours across multiple locations as hardcore protesters hurled rocks and petrol bombs. Police responded for the most part with tear gas, rubber bullets, and water cannon. The Junior Police Officer's Association also called on authorities to use colonial-era emergency regulations and impose a curfew as it launched a stinging attack on the city's pro-Beijing leaders.
"The people of Hong Kong are sick and tired of having mere words of condemnation as their only shields against lethal bullets and rifles," a masked protester said at a press conference near Tsang's school. A friend and classmate of Tsang, who gave his first name Marco, said the 18-year-old was a keen basketballer who was infuriated by sliding freedoms in Hong Kong and the police response to the protests.
They also unleashed a record 1,400 rounds of tear gas, 900 rubber bullets, 230 sponge rounds, 190 bean bag rounds and 5 live rounds as warning shots.On Wednesday, 96 protesters arrested on Sunday – mostly students but also including a teacher, a doctor, and an advertising executive – appeared in court charged with rioting.But after Beijing and local leaders took a hard line they snowballed into a wider movement calling for democratic freedoms and police accountability.