'Officer's Actions Strange, But Not Provocative'

Lawmaker Jeremy Tam, who was at a protest site on Wednesday during a much-talked about incident involving a policeman, said the officer's behaviour was inappropriate and strange, but he didn't see anything to suggest the man was trying to incite violent action.

The footage of the man running into police headquarters, from among the thousands who had surrounded the building, and being confronted by two lawmakers – Alvin Yeung and Tam – before he was let into the station by his colleagues has been circulating on social media.

The protest lasted for hours and at several points, things got tense before the siege ended without any major trouble. But the footage of this one incident was posted by several protesters, who claimed that the man was trying to incite violence.

The police force on Thursday issued a statement denying such allegations and said he was just an officer who was getting to work when he was accosted by the protesters.

Recalling the event, Tam said he was surprised when the man told him that he was a police officer and he was just coming in to work.

"I think it is quite weird. At that time, I think it was about 11pm or around midnight time and he claimed that he was coming for work," he said.

"I found that excuse extremely unbelievable, I have to say," said Tam.

"I also told him that there was fire escape door next to where he was cornered. And he refused to ask his colleagues to open that door. Instead he went all the way to the other side to open up a major gate. Why would you want to do that unless you want to grab more attention? That was absolutely unnecessary," Tam said.

The lawmaker clarified that he didn't see the officer trying to incite the crowd into violence.

Tam also told RTHK's Phoebe Ng that he also found it strange that only one officer was starting work at that time as a shift change would normally see more than one person coming in.

Chief Secretary Matthew Cheung also referred to the incident and said the officer had been blocked and chased by some protesters.

He said police officers are exercising an extreme level of tolerance in the face of the current challenges. But Cheung also warned that there will be zero tolerance for any illegal and violent actions.