Police Warn Against Radical Action On Sunday

Police have warned people planning to join a mass protest rally on Sunday not to do anything illegal, saying they have noticed some calls online for radical action in connection with the demonstration against controversial extradition law changes.

At a press conference on Thursday, senior superintendent Ng Lok-chun said the police will keep enough officers in reserve in case the protest turns violent, adding that the force would not tolerate anything illegal.

“For every operation or for every public event, we would do a very comprehensive threat assessment. And we would also base this on the experience of previous events as well as different scenarios or different things that might happen during these events,” said Ng.

“We will make sure that we have sufficient police manpower and also we will be ready and we have planned different contingency plans to deal with different situations,” he added.

Asked whether newly-acquired water cannon trucks will be deployed, the police said the trucks are reserved for large-scale and serious public disturbances – and police don't see any need to use them as long as Sunday's demonstration remains peaceful.

Police also defended their decision to let protesters use only three out of six traffic lanes for the march from Victoria Park to Tamar, even though organisers say they are expecting as many as 300,000 people to take part.

The force said part of the road has to remain open in case emergency vehicles need to pass through, and it urged protesters to be patient if there are bottlenecks along the route.