Police Fire Pepper Spray At Sha Tin Mall Crowd

Riot police fired pepper spray at a crowd of people at New Town Plaza in Sha Tin on Friday evening, shortly after officers entered the shopping mall where a "sing with you" protest was planned.

Dozens of officers went into the mall at 7pm, half an hour before the protest was due to get underway.

Some people inside were already chanting anti-government slogans, and the police were on the receiving end of various insults.

Shops in the mall quickly began rolling down their shutters.

There were scuffles when officers confronted some of the crowd and set up various cordon lines.

Journalists were caught up in the commotion when the pepper spray was fired.

Police used a loudhailer to warn people not to gather together, saying this was risky for public health due to the coronavirus outbreak.

In return, people chanted "Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times" and "Five demands, not one less".

By around 7:45pm there were few protesters to be seen. But the chants continued from various locations.

Officers were also later out near Sha Tin Town Hall, while TV footage showed them carrying out bag searches outside the shopping centre.

Despite the ongoing police action, shortly before 9pm a crowd managed to gather unnoticed in a corridor to belt out a rendition of the protest anthem "Glory to Hong Kong".

Now and again police would suddenly cordon off various parts of the mall, pushing back the numerous reporters caught off guard by the unexpected action.

Community U media said on its social media accounts that two of its reporters covering the protest were issued HK$2,000 fines for allegedly violating a law on public gatherings.

The media outlet said the pair showed police their press passes, but officers told them to "explain it to the court".

Police had broken up similar singing protests in shopping malls in Tseung Kwan O and Central earlier this week, saying people were in breach of a new law banning public gatherings of more than four people during the Covid-19 pandemic.

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