#HK CRACKDOWN WATCH UPDATE: Police announced 325 arrests 11/1-3 in Facebook broadcast (after canceling press con). Once again, police didn't give overall arrest figure since 6/9. They haven't done so since 10/18. Based on my calculations, there have now been 3,392 arrests in all.
#HK CRACKDOWN WATCH UPDATE: 15 new protester defendants were charged in court yesterday (11/4), the highest single-day number in weeks. Now, in all, since 6/9, 464 protesters prosecuted, 232 for 'riot', 41 for assaulting police (up from 39 on 11/1); 31 remanded in custody.
Among the 15 charged in court 11/4 were 3 District Council candidates, w unlawful assembly & obstructing police, arrested at Victoria Park 11/2 when police teargased a peaceful gathering; one still in hospital after police pepperspray attack. scmp.com/news/hong-kong… 
The 11/2 police teargas attack was the 3rd on a peaceful assembly, the other 2 being on 9/29 & 10/27. The police justification in all cases was that the assemblies were 'unlawful', but that doesn't justify attacking peaceful protesters. In all cases, police said...
...unlawful activities were occurring in the vicinity. But one of the frequent abuses perpetrated by police has been to use this pretext to attack peaceful protesters instead of targeting those engaged in aggressive acts. This pattern goes all the way back to 6/12: ....
On that date, police attacked 100,000 protesters because 200 were throwing things at them. 2 of the protests' 5 enduring demands (drop charges, stop labeling us rioters) grew out of that attack, but since then, rather than addressing the problem, police & govt have compounded it
These disproportionate & indiscriminate attacks have increased of late, part of the strategy to crush protests once and for all, whether peaceful or not. To police, these days, all protesters are 'rioters' & lawbreakers.
So we have the spectacle of police teargasing an assembly pro-dem DC candidates had declared an election rally. That should have protected it under the law. Police rejected the classification out of hand & arbitrarily declared the gathering unlawful, thus liable to teargas attack
Rarely if ever in #HK history has there been such a violent intervention in an election, committed by the police no less. This is one of the examples that best shows the extent to which police are used as a regime militia rather than a law enforcement agency.
By rights, police should've been ensuring the safety of those attending the election rally in Victoria Park & facilitating their participation. Instead, even before the teargas attack, they acted threateningly & intimidatingly-heavy presence in riot gear, weapons & stop&searches.
Now via pro-CCP media like SCMP 'anonymous' govt sources are making threats DC elections could be cancelled due to 'violence' & 'disorder', even tho all physical attacks (fx, Jimmy Sham), incl the police's in VicPark, have been on pro-democracy candidates. scmp.com/news/hong-kong…
#HK CRACKDOWN WATCH UPDATE: 3 protest arrests reported last night (11/4)- 1 at Cityplaza mall, Tai Koo; 2 in Tseung Kwan O.
Overall arrest count since 6/9: 3,395.
(Based on my own calculations derived from police announcements. Police haven't given an overall count since 10/18.)
Overall arrest count since 6/9: 3,395.
(Based on my own calculations derived from police announcements. Police haven't given an overall count since 10/18.)
10/18 (last time police gave an overall protest arrest count since 6/9): 2,671 arrests
10/18-20: 68
10/20-27: 206
10/30: 73
10/31: 49
11/1-3: 325
11/4: 3
total: 3,395 protest arrests since 6/9;
(724 arrests since 10/18- 21% of total in last 17 days)
10/18-20: 68
10/20-27: 206
10/30: 73
10/31: 49
11/1-3: 325
11/4: 3
total: 3,395 protest arrests since 6/9;
(724 arrests since 10/18- 21% of total in last 17 days)
Of the 449 #HK protesters charged in court since 6/9, 253've been since 9/23. Overall number, incl those charged w 'riot', jumped dramatically after arrests on 9/29, 10/1 & 10/5. In last 3 weeks, in spite of some of the highest arrest numbers, only 24 have been charged, 7 w riot.
It appears, at least for the moment, that while police have been ordered to ramp up arrests & aggressively hunt down protesters, they & Dept of Justice have been less inclined to bring large numbers straight from jail to court, as they did in early October.
