This archive report was first published on 13 June 2020.
On June 12, 2020, a Hong Kong police officer was reprimanded for his comments during a pro-democracy rally in Yau Ma Tei district. The officer, identified by his badge number, was part of a team of riot police responding to protests.
As reporters were asked to move back, the officer shouted 'I can't breathe,' a phrase that has been embraced by racial justice protesters in the United States following the death of George Floyd. Floyd died after gasping the phrase as the officer knelt on his neck for more than eight minutes on May 25, 2020.
The same officer also shouted 'Black Lives Matter' to an AFP journalist, saying 'That means we are the best in the world.' This comment sparked further controversy, with many accusing the officer of being insensitive and lacking understanding of the phrase's significance.
China and Hong Kong's police force have seized on the US police response to racial justice protests as a way to exonerate their own reaction to pro-democracy protests in the city. However, rights groups and protesters have accused officers of regularly using disproportionate force, and an independent inquiry into the police has been a core demand of the democracy movement for the last year.
Police have denied all brutality accusations, saying their force matched that of protesters. However, the city's police watchdog cleared the force of any wrongdoing last month, a finding that did little to mollify protesters.
