Protesters Vow To Stay Till All Demands Are Met

The crowd outside Legco continued to increase on Friday as more people arrived to join the protesters, with many of them saying they will not leave until the government meets all of their demands.

There was no official response from the government on Friday and there was very little police presence in the protest areas.

The atmosphere was peaceful, according to reporters at the scene, with some speeches and singing of hymns. Some protesters sat on the road dividers on Tim Mei Avenue even as traffic moved along.

The arrival of Federation of Students members at the Legco protest area was greeted with cheers and clapping by the hundreds gathered at the site.

Addressing the crowd, one of the student leaders said they are calling on all of their friends to join the protests. He also said they had arranged drinks and other supplies nearby for protesters.

A university student, who gave her name as Yi, said she will continue to protest until the government meets all of their demands, including the complete withdrawal of the extradition bill.

"We are going to just sit here. Nothing serious like June 12 will happen [today]," she said, referring to the violent clashes that erupted in the area as police tried to clear the tens of thousands of protesters.

But a man named Lucas, who said he was from Chile and has been working in Hong Kong for the past seven years, said he was not sure about that. He said he did the police would be more careful this time, however.

"I think police will come up after after some time and ask us to leave. I don't think they will be eager to throw tear gas like (Wednesday last week) because they had a big backlash from the excessive violence they showed last time," he said.