Pan-Democrats Hit Out At Police Use Of Force

The pan-democrats have condemned the police for using force against protesters in Yuen Long on Saturday. Twenty-four people were injured in the clashes, two seriously, after anti-extradition protesters headed to Yuen Long to protest against an attack at Yuen Long Station last Sunday by alleged triads.

The coordinator of the pan democrat camp, Claudia Mo, says the force is treating protesters as enemies.

"The aggressiveness of the police force has become almost out of control, unchecked," she said. "They seem to have this goal of harming the citizens and they treat people as the enemy."

Mo said the police force was not the army and they should be protecting people.

The alleged triads, who were wearing white shirts, beat people with sticks. They seemed to have been targeting people in black shirts, who they thought were returning from an anti-extradition protest earlier in the day on Hong Kong island.

Much of the violence between the police and the protesters on Saturday was also at Yuen Long MTR station.

Police say they only entered the station after some protesters attacked them with a fire extinguisher from a footbridge.

Senior Superintendent Yolanda Yu said they didn't notify the MTR because it had been a split second decision.

The government has strongly condemned protesters who took part in Saturday's violence in Yuen Long, saying the police will take serious follow-up action.