Fourteen Arrested In Prince Edward, Mong Kok

Police arrested at least 14 people on Monday night in Mong Kok as large crowds of people gathered outside the Prince Edward MTR station, leaving flowers and sporadically chanting pro-independence slogans as they marked one year since officers stormed the station in search of anti-government protesters.

Police said in a statement that nine males and four females – aged 16 to 60 – were arrested for unlawful assembly, disorder in a public place, assaulting police, and possessing an imitation firearm.

One of those arrested is a 17-year-old boy who told police that he is a reporter.

Earlier in the evening, officers had unfurled the force’s new purple warning flag by the Prince Edward MTR station, saying those present may be in breach of the national security law. People at the scene immediately scattered away.

Some among the crowds who had been crammed into the narrow sidewalks in the area had been shouting “Hong Kong independence!” and “Five demands!” intermittently.

Despite the warning, large crowds remained in the area, some yelling out and mocking officers who were patrolling the streets and ordering passersby and reporters to stay on the pedestrian walkway.

At around ten o'clock in the evening, some of the crowds had been pushed to Mong Kok by advancing police.

Warning flags were unfurled several more times by officers, ordering people to disperse as there had been an unauthorised gathering.

In the commotion, live video feeds showed a pregnant woman left sitting in the middle of the road at the intersection of Argyle Street and Sai Yeung Choi Street, as female officers propped her up and washed her eyes with water.

Police later posted on social media in response to that incident saying while arresting a man on Argyle Street, they pulled away the woman who was accompanying him and used pepper spray. They later found that she was pregnant, and was feeling unwell, so she was sent to Kwong Wah Hospital for treatment.

Many people were stopped and questioned throughout the evening, including a young boy who looked to be a pre-teen, who was bundled into a police van.

A media liaison officer did not tell RTHK why the boy was taken away or whether he was arrested.

At one point, almost 20 mostly young people dressed in black – some clutching flowers – were stopped and questioned outside the Pioneer Shopping Centre before officers let them go.

During last year's police action at the MTR Station, riot officers raced into the station during a night of anti-government protests, beating and pepper-spraying people they encountered on the platforms and inside a train.

The force ejected journalists from the site and delayed the arrival of paramedics sent to treat the injured.

The authorities have since been unable to dispel persistent rumours that officers killed people inside the station, despite there being no credible evidence that there were any fatalities.

A woman who had arrived with some white flowers didn’t want to give her name, but explained why she had come.

"Something really happened here a year ago," she said. "It is really heartbroken for everyone who love ... Hong Kong," she said.

"So I decided to come, Nothing much I can do, right? Just this the only thing I can do," she said.

Another man, who also refused to share his name, said he’d taken a bus to get there – as he had boycotted the MTR.

He said he no longer trusted the police or the government.

They stopped emergency workers from going there, he pointed out. "They are hiding something," he said.

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