This archive report was first published on 23 September 2019.
On August 11, 2019, a night of violent demonstrations in Hong Kong took a dark turn. As the crowds dispersed and the tear gas dissipated, a group of men dressed in black rushed into a popular shopping mall, tackling people and beating them with batons.
For months, protesters had accused the Hong Kong police of using excessive force, but this night marked a disturbing shift. Undercover officers, disguised as demonstrators, were seen hitting protesters with batons and pinning them to the ground, leaving some bleeding profusely.
Footage of the night went viral, sparking widespread outrage. Lawyers and human rights advocates who watched the images say the police used excessive force to conduct arbitrary arrests.
The Hong Kong police claimed they had conducted a 'decoy operation' targeting a 'core group of violent rioters.' However, three of the men arrested said they did not know one another, and protests in the area had ended hours before the clash.
One man suffered a brain hemorrhage, while others had serious bone fractures. Doctors described one injury, a broken arm, as caused by assault.
When asked about the footage of one of the bloody arrests, Steve Li, senior superintendent of the Organized Crime and Triad Bureau, said that 'officers used appropriate force to subdue the man and conduct an arrest.'
