Hundreds Gather To Back Police, Slam The Media

Hundreds of people turned up outside the government's headquarters at Tamar on Saturday to express their support for the police force after more than five months of protests on the city's streets.

The participants, many of them dressed in red and holding Chinese and SAR flags, chanted pro-police and pro-government slogans, and called for December 12 to be made "Patriots' Day".

A number of police officers were present, some giving the demonstrators the thumbs up and posing for selfies with the crowd.

The event was organised by a pro-Beijing group founded by a former policeman, Man Shek.

Shek urged the government to do whatever it takes to clamp down on violent protests in the SAR, saying the level of violence seen in the city is unprecedented.

A petition letter was handed to a government representative.

At one point during the rally, two RTHK journalists were surrounded and harassed by some of the government supporters.

The crowd jeered and took close-up photos of the pair, and chanted slogans like “corrupt journalists” and “disband RTHK”.

The episode ended after organisers intervened around five minutes later.