Officers Rush Protesters At Taikoo MTR Station

Police clashes with anti-government protesters reached into the heart of a core middle-class community at around 10.30pm on Sunday night, with officers rushing demonstrators at the Taikoo MTR station and detaining many.

Television footage showed riot police storming into the station and repeatedly striking a man wearing a mask and a black shirt as he tumbled down the escalator.

Others were subdued by an exit.

However, many protesters retreated into the station, where they boarded a train and left the scene.

After the altercation, large crowds of people who say they live nearby came down to the streets, yelling at police to leave, with some shouting, "black cops!"

One resident, Ronald Cheung, said he came down right away after seeing the clashes on television.

"I don’t know why they are here and disturbing our neighbourhood," he complained. "All the people in the neighbourhood just want them to leave because there is no difference between triad [gangsters] and police right now, because they’re not arresting anyone wearing a white shirt on July 21 [who attacked people in Yuen Long] or today in North Point... they are not arresting anyone there who are hitting others as well."

A short while before the clashes at Taikoo, umbrella-wielding protesters had gathered inside the Quarry Bay MTR station, as throngs of riot police massed outside.

Some of the protesters sprayed water from a fire hose all over the floor in an apparent bid to dissuade the police from coming in.

However, protesters did not hold their positions, and left the scene quickly, leaving cleaning staff to mop up.