Police Clear Roads In Mong Kok, Protesters Vanish

Police began to clear roads near the Mong Kok police station soon after 7pm after a group of protesters targeted officers guarding the premises with laser pointers and throwing eggs.

A group of riot police who arrived in the area moved along the Nathan Road, clearing people to the side. But most of the protesters had melted away by then, leaving only journalists and some shoppers watching the officers walking down the middle of the road.

Some of the protesters where seen at the Yau Ma Tei MTR station as clearance action started.

The police also cleared the roadblocks some protesters had set up at Nathan Road and ordered people and the media off the road, back to the pavement.

At some points, officers used loudspeakers to warn the public to leave the area, especially families with children who were in the area.

During a tense moment during the police action, one officer was seen aiming his rifle at a group of onlookers who were on a overhead footpath on Mong Kok road after something fell from that bridge. It was not clear it was someone throwing something at the officer.

Some of the shops remained open throughout this operation and traffic also trickled through. In some places, some people also shouted triads and bad cops at the police.

One shopper, who gave his name as Lee, said a police officer accused him of taking part in an illegal assembly even though he was just shopping in Mong Kok, and wasn’t dressed in black.

He said he didn’t understand why the police had to charge along Nathan Road when there wasn’t any protesters, adding that he felt the police were impolite and had abused their power.

When the police officers left the area, some people shouted "bad cops" and threw some objects at the vehicles.

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