Riot Police, Pepper Spray As Protest Turns Ugly

Diehard protesters who heeded a call to besiege Legco at the end of Sunday's extradition march ended up in violent clashes with the police shortly after midnight, with officers repeatedly firing pepper spray and hitting demonstrators with batons.

The protesters rammed police officers with metal barriers and threw bottles at them during chaotic scenes.

One police officer was badly hurt and was seen with a bloodied face. An officer was later seen being carried into an ambulance, apparently with an eye injury.

A number of journalists were also reported to have been injured.

Police carried a number of protesters away, as reinforcements arrived at the Legislative Council in the form of riot officers.

After a while, the protesters took over Lung Wo Road – the scene of clashes during the 2014 Occupy protests. They set up a maze of barriers across the road, while other demonstrators threw massive rubbish bins down from the road above.

The police condemned the violence and warned protesters that all their gatherings outside Legco and in Admiralty were illegal.

Earlier, Demosisto and pro-independence group Studentlocalism had called on people taking part in the anti-extradition law march to surround Legco.

Around an hour after the violence began, Demosisto advised protesters to leave the area. The group urged the police not to use force against those still sitting down outside the government's headquarters, saying it was only a peaceful protest.

By around 1.45am, the police appeared to have pushed the majority of the protesters all the way to Wan Chai, where clashes continued.

The Demosisto protesters were later carried away by the police one by one.

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