Hong Kong police officer stabbed in the neck as protests continue
13 October 2019, 16:48
A police officer in Hong Kong has been stabbed in the neck as protesters ramp up their efforts on the streets of the former British colony.
The footage, shared widely online, shows the officer making his way through a vandalised Metro station to inspect the damage.
One of the demonstrators can then be seen jumping out at the officer and slashing his neck with what appears to be a stanley knife.
The officer was taken to a nearby hospital and police have confirmed two people have been arrested in connection with the attack.
A spokesperson added: "The sharp-edged object is a deadly weapon. Police will strive to investigate all violent acts."
A Hong Kong police officer was seriously injured this afternoon when terrorists stabbed him in an artery in his neck.@cnnbrk @BBCBreaking pic.twitter.com/sh9rMl67CN
— Lakhan (@tongnan8424418) October 13, 2019
Elsewhere, another officer was filmed getting drop-kicked in the face outside Mong Kok's Grand Plaza as he attempted to arrested one of the activists.
Police have been repeatedly attempting to arrest those who wear face masks, after they were outlawed last week.
Under the new law, wearing a face-covering during a riot is punishable by up to one year in prison.
Protesters have continued to march in Hong Kong this weekend, defying police warnings that they were gathering illegally.
But police said rioters launched petrol bombs and also damaged a subway station.
A video widely shared online on Sunday afternoon shows protesters rescuing a person from arrest outside Mong Kok's Grand Plaza, by jump-kicking a riot police officer in the face.
— Hong Kong Free Press (@HongKongFP) October 13, 2019
Photo: Telegram. #hongkong #hongkongprotests #antiELAB pic.twitter.com/2sYXAPIzKb
The rallies in Kowloon and a small gathering of retirees outside police headquarters on Hong Kong Island maintained pressure on the city's leader, Chief Executive Carrie Lam, to bend to the months-long protest movement's demands ahead of her annual policy address on Wednesday
Many thousands of marchers joined the rally in Kowloon, classified by police as an illegal gathering.
A cohort of police wearing riot helmets and banging their plastic shields followed some distance behind, clearing road blocks left by the march.
Outside police headquarters, about 200 people, many of them retirees, also gathered peacefully, some shouting abuse at plainclothes officers who did not intervene.
There were gatherings of several hundred people in other locations, too. A rally in a shopping mall pulled together about 300 people who sang and put up protest posters.
The police force reported on its Facebook page that rioters tossed petrol bombs inside a Kowloon subway station, "posing a threat to the safety of citizens" but causing no injuries.
Overall, however, the protests were lower-key and appeared to lack the numbers of some much larger demonstrations seen during the more than four months of unrest that have gripped the semi-autonomous Chinese territory.
As recently as last Sunday, tens of thousands of masked protesters had hit Hong Kong's rain-drenched streets.
