Thread by @XinqiSu

In this #thread 7 questions arising from the press briefing given by SSP Chan Tin-chun just now on arrest of 13 people in relation to "rioting" in Yuen Long on 21 July last year will be discussed.

1, It's a "confrontation" between "evenly matched rivals" and...

..."not an indifferent attack"?

In a pro-police gathering on 20 July, there were already a number of leading figures encouraging supporters to eg "beat the sons with rattans". From the afternoon of 21 July, white-clad men with sticks and poles had already...

...begun to gathering in Yuen Long. If the police stand with their record about "force being dragged to HK Island that afternoon", it should also be recognised that there was no "evenly matched rival" to the white mob in the first place. The black-clad group "fluxed" ...

...into Yuen Long, again according to police's own record, took place after at least two rounds of attack outside and inside Yuen Long Station. So how did the white-clad mob choose their targets? Selective or indifferent? Why among many examples, a pregnant woman was chosen?

2, Two live feeds from Yuen Long Station were biased and distorted because one "paused" and the other "focused on only one side"?

The first one paused was because the reporter Gwyneth Ho of @StandNewsHK was beaten, bleeding and fell to the ground. @galileocheng who tried...

...to cover and save Ho was also beaten, suffering a deep cut on his mouth. After she was saved, Ho continued to go live despite bleeding. That's why she said she had a record "till the end". As for focusing on one side, live by police may first show some good examples.

3, Did it take police 39 minutes to rush to the scene or 17 minutes?

IPPC thematic report on #antiElAB protests Chapter 10 page 10-11, "from 7pm on 21 July to 0.59am on 22 July, New Territories Region received 1,484 record of 999 emergency calls"....

...At the daily press briefing on 25 July, Dep Regional Commander Tsang Ching-fo admitted that the police had learned in advance the white-clad's "Defend Yuen Long Action" and officers were 39 minutes late to arrive at the station.

4, The criticism of "collusion between police and triads" was generated from a misunderstood screen grab?

Assume that the riot police was indeed "pushing" a white-clad man in the screen grab, assume that it was true any arrest at the spot would worsen the situation, that was...

...around midnight and hours after the white-clad began to gather in Yuen Long and beat passengers. If police, as their Dep Regional Commander admitted, learned about the "Defend" action in advance, why there was no warning or preemptive operation like how police handled...

...anti-extradition bill protests? The latest RTHK HK Connection investigation of 7.21 attack showed cars bringing weapons to the scene and tracked the registration to gentry leaders. Only after that programmed was aired, police admitted that they sent plain-clothed officers...

...to the scene. Didn't police manage to get more than RTHK reporters in more than a year? What generated the accusation of "collusion" is not a screen grab, but every disappointment ranging from hours of delay in answering emergency calls, to the answer that no weapon ...

... was seen when all reporters and live audience saw the poles and heard the squeak when the white-clad dragged them all around (a latter question will address this), and to the stark difference in the number of people arrested from "different camps" (in police's words).

5, "No weapon was seen" because "right at that moment no weapon was seen"?

SSP Chan Tin-chu said CID "seized some weapons" in their search of Nam Pin Wai started at 3.30 am on 22 July. So, at which moment during the press briefing could the officer say...

"no weapon was seen"? Moreover, those wood sticks and metal poles were held and wielded by the white-clad mob since at least early evening of 21 July. If police, as they admitted, sent plain-clothed officers to the scene, what did they see? If a sunglass thrown at police....

...constituted an assault and landed a women in prison, how could wood sticks and metal poles held in that way, in that amount, not be considered weapons or tools that can be used for illegal purposes?

6, The reporter tried to "cover up" and "be biased"?

The Commercial Radio reporter asked "why didn’t police record info of the two white-clad men wielding metal poles in hand right away? Why lawmakers broke laws by going there to learning about what happened and help...

...intermediate? Did Lam Cheuk-ting throw anything or do anything to brake public peace? What actually did he do to worsen the situation?" Instead of answering the questions directly and right away, SSP Chan Tin-chu went back to HK Island on 21 July and even Sheung Shui and...

Sha Tin on 13 & 14 July. And when Chan returned to Yuen Long on 21 July, he asked the reporter why didn't he ask about metal poles held by protesters in HK Island that day, before he admitted that they could not take down hundreds of ID info from both sides. Given that...

...it was police's call to hold a presser on 13 arrested today in relation to Yuen Long attack on 21 July, wouldn't police hope, as they often demanded, that reporters "focus on the incident" and "do not ask irrelevant questions"?

7, So what did Lam Cheuk-ting do that constituted joining rioting in Yuen Long on 21 July?

SSP Chan Tin-chu dodged this question completely. And in fact, Lam called the police at the scene, and received a thank-you letter from police (when 34 were arrested).

Endnote: SSP Chan Tin-chu said this afternoon "we have restored the facts".

HK has live feeds, extensive investigation reports, and books of witness accounts about 7.21.

The competition for defining this watershed moment is going to be fierce and bitter.

#thread ends