Large Number Of Police Patrol Yuen Long Areas

Police officers were out in force in Yuen Long on Tuesday to stop people from gathering on the first anniversary of a mob attack that occurred at the railway station there at the height of the anti-extradition bill protests.

Officers in riot gear were seen patrolling the station, and a large section of a pedestrian walkway in the area has been cordoned off.

The station and the surrounding areas had seen protesters gather on the 21st day of each month since last year to mark one of the most controversial incidents of last year's anti-government protests.

A message warning "reasonable force may be used" against people who have either entered or remained in the cordoned area was being broadcast repeatedly.

The station remained opened but several exits are closed “for crowd management".

Police have been accused of colluding with triads, with officers turning up at the scene only 39 minutes after the attacks on passengers which ended up with 45 people in hospital. Police in the area received around 24,000 calls for help in the three hours between 10.30pm and 1.30am.

So far, 37 people have been arrested in connection with the attack, with seven charged with rioting and other offences.

Earlier on Tuesday, police entered the Landmark mall in Central and fined some people after several protesters gathered for a lunchtime protest to mark the one-year anniversary of the attacks.

The protesters held up sheets of white paper and paper handkerchiefs, and chanted slogans accusing the police of not showing up during the assaults a year ago.

Plainclothes officers and their uniformed colleagues entered the mall to conduct searches.

A few protesters were later handed summonses for breaching a ban on gatherings of more than four people, which has been enforced after a third wave of coronavirus outbreak began in the city.