Thread by @MesMitch

Hong Kong: mammoth rally marks six months of pro-democracy protests
Sea of protesters pour on to streets calling for elections and inquiry into police tactics

Hundreds of thousands of protesters have filled the streets of Hong Kong in a mass show of support for an anti-government movement that shows no signs of flagging as it enters a seventh month.

The march on Sunday was mostly peaceful, in a rare break from the escalating violent scenes of recent weeks.

Chanting “Reclaim Hong Kong, Revolution of our time!”, a sea of protesters formed a two-mile-long human snake

winding for blocks on Hong Kong Island, from the Causeway Bay shopping district to the Central business zone.

It was the first time in nearly four months that the march organiser, Civil Human Rights Front, had been given police permission for a mass demonstration.

The organizer of million-strong marches in June estimated that 800,000 people participated in Sunday’s march. Police said 183,000 turned up.

Buoyed by the landslide victory of pro-democracy politicians in the district elections two weeks ago, protesters were in high spirits, and there was a relaxed, carnival-like atmosphere.

Some chanted “Five demands, not one less!”, referring to a set of as-yet-unfulfilled political demands, including democratic reforms and an independent investigation into police brutality.

Othrs directed their hostility towards riot police officers who were standing guard, calling them dogs and chanting HKs, revenge! while making obscene gestures at them. Violent confrontations between police and protesters in the past few months have resulted in mutual hostility

Some protesters spray-painted anti-China graffiti on a Bank of China building while others attacked a pro-Beijing bank. A Starbucks cafe, run by a franchise company seen as pro-China, was also vandalised.