Boy Charged With Rioting After Sunday's Protest

A 16-year-old boy has been charged with rioting and wounding after police accused him of attacking a woman who was trying to clear away a road block set up by protesters on Sunday.

Police said the woman had been attempting to remove rubbish bins and metal barricades from a road in Tin Hau to allow traffic to pass.

Speaking to reporters outside police headquarters in Wan Chai on Tuesday, Chief Inspector Lo Yin-lam said four people came up to the woman to scold her, and she was kicked and struck with bamboo sticks.

When asked why the boy was charged with rioting instead of illegal assembly, Lo said: “because the act … at the scene is sufficient to lay that charge.”

Thousands of anti-government protesters gathered in Causeway Bay on Sunday and staged an unauthorised march against Beijing’s plans to impose national security laws in Hong Kong.

The protest led to police firing multiple volleys of tear gas outside the Sogo department store in the area.