Hong Kong in Resistance: An Overview
Trigger warning for police brutality, violence, injuries and potential gore. View at your own discretion.
8.31 Prince Edward Station Attack
Image: riot police with shields and batons chase and force citizens up an escalator. Source: Al Jazeera
10:30 pm and before –
WHO: Protesters
WHERE: Mong Kok station
WHAT:
- Following a day-time rally, some black bloc protesters vandalised some of the facilities in Mong Kok station
- Some of the protesters got on a train, to the displeasure of several passengers
10:40 pm –
WHO: Passengers, a middle-aged man and protesters
WHERE: Kwun Tong line to Tiu King Ling at Platform 3 in Prince Edward station
WHAT:
- An argument broke out between some of the passengers and the Protesters.
- The middle-aged man took out a metal hammer and waved it in the air.
- In response, the protesters took out an extinguisher and sprayed it in the train carriage. White vapour filled the carriage.
- The protesters alleged that the passengers tried to attack reporters and started to fight back by miming kicks at passengers.
- Through the opened carriage door, they threw water bottles and other objects at each other. At one point, the protesters tried to snatch the phone of a passenger that seemed to be taking close snapshots of a protester’s face and in the commotion, shattered a glass door.
- There was a station broadcast for all passengers to leave the trains and that the station was to close down
Image: a man in a blue shirt waves a hammer around, aiming it at a protester. Source: LIHKG
10: 56 pm –
WHO: Passengers, the Raptors (Special Tactical Squad) and the riot police, protesters
WHERE: Tsuen Wan line to Central at Platform 4 and the carriage there at the time in Prince Edward Station
WHAT:
- Around 100 members of the Raptors and riot police arrived at the site opposite to the platform where the conflict broke out and beat passengers and protesters, many of which had no protective gear on (a hallmark of protesters), indiscriminately with their batons.
- Many of the victims had head injuries and bled from their scalps.
- There was footage of the police shouting “Come on out!” at the passengers while waving the pepper spray bottle around and pointing their batons at passengers.
- Some passengers pleaded “We are all just civilians. Please don’t spray us.”
- Pepper spray was deployed.
- Passengers and protesters screamed and cried. Some used their umbrellas as shields against the police.
- Some passengers were tackled or pulled from the carriage to the platform by the Raptors and subsequently arrested. Some passengers were forced to squat facing the wall with their arms raised for arrest. Some passengers were kicked and beaten by several officers on the floor.
- In the commotion, many passengers rushed to escalators and stairs while the Raptors and riot police chased after them. They were also beaten and arrested.
- Some of the victims fainted from their wounds.
See more: Baton-wielding Hong Kong police storm Prince Edward MTR station [August 31, 2019] (link to Youtube video)
See more: Violence erupts in Hong Kong's Prince Edward MTR: Extended Video (link to Youtube video)
Image: a group of passengers, with their hands up in surrender, are being pepper sprayed. Source: Joshua Wong's twitter thread.
11:00 pm -
WHO: Volunteer First-aiders (FA), wounded passengers, the Ambulance Services, riot police and Raptors
WHERE: Prince Edward Station platforms 3 and 4
WHAT:
- A FA found 3 victims, one of which had a 3-5 cm deep cut on their scalp. Some of the FAs had to borrow tissues and menstruation pads to staunch the bleeding of the victims.
- The shape of the wounds was different from baton wounds earlier in the year, creating rumours that the police might have illegally modified the batons. The rumours spread even more after a policeman was spotted with a metal embellishment on his baton during the march in Yuen Long on 27 July 2019.
- The Ambulance Services later arrived on the scene due to reports of injury at 11:05 and treated some of the victims.
11:12 pm – 11:17 pm –
WHO: Paramedics, reporters, riot police and Raptors, MTR Corporation, FAs
WHERE: Prince Edward station, Yau Ma Tei station
WHAT:
- The riot police and Raptors evicted the reporters, FAs and paramedics from Prince Edward station at 11:12 pm.
- At 11:14 pm, the MTR Corporation announced that all stations in Kwun Tong line and Tsuen Wan line were to close down.
- At 11:17 pm, more ambulances arrived at Prince Edward station exit E but the station’s gates were down. They did not manage to get in. Raptors and the riot police told them that there was no one injured at Prince Edward station, as admitted by the Hong Kong Police Force spokesperson.
- Yau Ma Tei station shut down. At exit A2 of Yau Ma Tei station, FAs cried and pleaded for the riot police and Raptors to allow them in. The riot police and Raptors responded by saying “There is nothing you can do. You can keep talking though.” St. John’s Ambulances also arrived but were turned away.
- A FA outside of Yau Ma Tei station said that they were in the station before eviction and saw 4 wounded victims.
11:30 pm –
WHO: Ambulance Services, riot police and Raptors
WHERE: Special train service by the MTR Corporation, Prince Edward MTR station
WHAT:
- A special train took the Ambulance Services to Prince Edward station.
- 3 FAs who refused to leave were detained while facing the wall.
- An ambulance arrived at Yau Ma Tei station. An Ambulance Officer Trainee was allowed in. They logged 10 – 15 injured passengers in the Incident Log and later changed it to 3, only to change it back to 10 again.
Image: still taken from an RTHK report (link to video), an official news outlet; a protester presses a menstruation pad to a civilian bleeding from the head. Their white shirt is soaked in their blood.
12:15 a.m –
WHO: The Hong Kong Police Force
WHERE: Prince Edward station
WHAT:
- The Hong Kong Police Force spokesperson admitted that an officer told the ground at Prince Edward station exit E that there was no one injured.
- But allowed them in after checking with them, according to the Hong Kong Police Force.
- According to the Event Date Time log of the Incident Log (i.e. real-time logging during the date of the event), there were 10 injured passengers at the time.
12: 36 – 1:02 a.m. –
WHO: The Fire Service, paramedics
WHERE: Unknown
WHAT:
- The Incident Log of the Fire Service, which the Ambulance Service is under, was left completely blank for this period
- Some of the actions logged at the Event Date Time were erased or changed three days to ten days after August 31st, 2019, several hours before the press conferences on September 2nd, 2019 and September 10th, 2019
- The Incident Log mentioning the numbers also changed from 10 in the Event Date Time to 7 subsequently.
1:00 a.m. –
WHO: Paramedics, wounded passengers, riot police and Raptors
WHERE: Special Train Service by the MTR Corporation, Lai Chi Kok station
WHAT:
- The special train service took the three parties to the hospital at Lai Chi Kok station.
Image: bouquets of white flowers hang on the gate of the closed Prince Edward MTR station. There are so many bouquets that the gate is obscured. Source: SCMP
Aftermath –
• One of the victims that day had a concussion from the attack. The long-term negative effects from the concussion, which includes frequent dizziness and headaches that seriously impact his daily life, have been debilitating. He has been medicated for the dizziness, nausea, and damage to his crania nerves.
• Another victim who was arrested on the day still has flashbacks and panic attacks when she passes Prince Edward station on the train.
• Both of the aforementioned victims were arrested for unlawful assembly. The first was arrested while he was hospitalised.
• Due to the unsatisfactory answers given on September 1st, 2019, September 2nd, 2019 and September 10th, 2019 by the Police Force and the Fire Service, rumours started to circulate that some of the wounded passengers died on the police’s watch.
• Every month after August 31st, 2019, people gathered at Prince Edward station to put flowers and joss sticks there, a common practice done in tribute to the dead in Chinese culture. By the fourth month, the police started to deploy water cannons and pepper spray at those who gathered and mass-arrested attendees.
• Prince Edward station was closed on the monthly commemoration of the day by night-time. In the seventh month after August 31st, 2019, the MTR station was closed down at 4 pm and was heavily guarded by the police.
Sources
P. 253- 265 Storm in Hong Kong 2019, Initium Media