Brawl Sparks Chaotic Clearance At Festival Walk

Riot police used pepper spray and fired pepper balls as they forced shoppers to leave the upmarket Festival Walk shopping mall on Sunday afternoon, after plainclothes police brawled with anti-government protesters, leaving at least one officer bloodied and battered. A man was also left lying in a pool of blood in the chaos.

Demonstrators had been chanting slogans at the mall since 2pm in response to online calls for protests at shopping centres across the city, but the trouble didn’t start until two hours later, when some protesters started spraying graffiti at restaurants operated by the Maxim’s catering group.

Several plainclothes officers – some wearing black clothing and masks just like protesters – suddenly took out their batons and confronted a group of protesters, detaining several people.

The officers were in turn surrounded by an angry crowd, demanding they show their warrant cards identifying themselves as police officers.

A group of protesters then rushed past the officers and grabbed several people who had been arrested, setting off a brawl, with protesters punching and kicking the officers, who retaliated with baton strikes.

One officer was left bloodied with an apparent eye injury. Police later confirmed in a statement that one arrestee escaped in the chaos.

Following the fracas, a large group of riot police quickly arrived, sweeping the mall floor by floor and ordering everyone to leave.

Officers forced people to rush down escalators, prompting some disgruntled people to complain about the action.

In response, the police fired off pepper spray, hitting a number of people.

Other officers shot several pepper balls from their guns at people who were shouting abuse at them from lower floors.

Several more people were detained, and one man was seen in a pool of blood with an apparent head wound in the midst of the chaos.

Police said officers had used minimal force in the dispersal operation, which was mounted to arrest ‘violent protesters’ who had recklessly damaged shops in the mall.

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