Police fire pepper spray as 80 protesters arrested after Mong Kok clearance
At least 80 protesters detained after clashes erupt when police officers join bailiffs in first round of court-ordered operations in Mong Kok
Police used pepper spray in a vain bid to clear Occupy protesters after opening part of Argyle Street and last night were locked in a tense confrontation with a crowd in nearby Nathan Road.
Police said they would begin clearing the section of Nathan Road that is between Argyle Street and Dundas Street today.
On the 59th day of the occupation, yesterday's removal of barricades from Argyle Street in enforcement of an injunction had been expected to go smoothly. But displaced protesters quickly moved to Portland Street and the one-way street, where barricades were cleared last month, was once again blocked.
By nightfall, protesters had been pushed back to Nathan Road at the junction of Portland and Changsha streets.
"I was outraged. I was on the footpath, with my feet not touching the road," said student Alfred Wong, 18, who was pepper-sprayed.
Watch: Occupy protesters arrested during scuffles with police in Mong Kok
Several journalists, including photographer Sam Tsang Kwok-chung, claimed to have been pepper-sprayed by police while covering the day's incidents.
Police Public Relations Branch Senior Superintendent Kong Man-keung said bailiffs had given repeated warnings "but interference was caused by those at the scene".
He said bailiffs, in line with the injunction order, asked police for help and when warnings by officers were also ignored, they carried out "dispersion measures".
About 7,000 police officers, split into two shifts, were sent to assist in the operation yesterday.
Bailiffs took more than five hours to clear some of the barricades listed in the court injunction, opening up at least one lane of traffic on Argyle Street.
But the scene became chaotic after officers tried to disperse protesters on an Argyle Street footpath outside the Langham Place shopping mall by pushing them into a narrow pavement on Portland Street and then trying to persuade them to leave.
Clashes later broke out as hundreds of protesters faced off with baton and shield-wielding police on Portland Street. Police raised red warning flags and later fired pepper spray. Three officers were injured during the clashes.
Some protesters criticised police for a lack of organisation. "It's not part of the area in the injunction," 23-year-old audio technician Timmy Wong said of Portland Street.
Police said that as of 8pm, 80 people had been arrested, among them a Now TV engineer who allegedly assaulted an officer. Police had earlier said that six females and 17 males, including League of Social Democrats lawmaker "Long Hair" Leung Kwok-hung, were arrested for suspected contempt of court. Nine males were arrested for allegedly assaulting police and obstructing a public officer in the execution of duties.
A minibus drivers' group obtained the court injunction to remove road barricades on a small section of Argyle Street. The cleared section accounted for only a small portion of the occupied area, but is a crucial intersection.
Another injunction has been granted to a taxi drivers' association for clearing the much longer Nathan Road.
