- Title: Hong Kong riot police fire tear gas as Christmas Eve protests intensify
- Date: 24th December 2019
- Summary: TSIM SHA TSUI, HONG KONG, CHINA (DECEMBER 24, 2019) (REUTERS) ***WARNING: CONTAINS PROFANITY*** RIOT POLICE GATHERED ON ROAD / MEMBER OF SECURITY FORCES FIRING TEAR GAS / SECURITY FORCES MARCHING RIOT POLICE MARCHING / RIOT POLICE WALKING BACKWARDS DOWN ROAD / ITEMS BEING THROWN AT THEM PROTESTERS BEHIND UMBRELLAS GATHERED / PEOPLE FILMING WITH MOBILE PHONES POLICE STANDING BY ROAD / SMOKE FROM TEAR GAS BILLOWING / PROTESTERS WAVING FLAGS PROTESTERS RUNNING POLICE HOLDING SIGN READING (English): "WARNING - TEAR SMOKE" POLICE AND PROTESTERS ON ROAD PROTESTERS RUNNING ACROSS ROAD POLICE VANS QUEUING / POLICE GATHERED ON ROAD POLICE VANS DRIVING POLICE STANDING IN LINE ON ROAD PROTESTERS GATHERED / CAR MOVING THROUGH CROWD PROTESTERS MAKING PROFANE GESTURE AT SECURITY FORCES PROTESTER GATHERED AND WAVING FLAG
- Embargoed: 7th January 2020 14:12
- Keywords: Christmas eve protests in Hong Kong Hong Kong protests Tear gas
- Location: TSIM SHA TSUI, HONG KONG, CHINA
- City: TSIM SHA TSUI, HONG KONG, CHINA
- Country: Hong Kong
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,Civil Unrest
- Reuters ID: LVA001BBC2XXJ
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: SHOT 14 CONTAINS PROTESTERS MAKING A PROFANE GESTURE
Riot police in Hong Kong fired tear gas in an effort to disperse protesters on Tuesday (December 24), who were staging anti-government rallies in Tsim Sha Tsui district.
The Christmas Eve protests saw thousands of demonstrators gathering, many of whom were wearing reindeer horns to mark the festive season.
As well as taking to the streets, protesters rallied in nearby shopping malls, where they clashed with security forces. Witnesses said that demonstrators threw umbrellas and other objects at police who responded by beating some demonstrators with batons, with one pointing his gun at the crowd, but not firing.
The protests, now in their seventh month, have lost some of the scale and intensity of earlier violent confrontations. A peaceful rally this month still drew 800,000 people, according to organisers, showing strong support for the movement.
Some protesters were planning to march in Tsim Sha Tsui and count down to Christmas, according to notices on social media.
The Civil Human Rights Front, which has organised some of the biggest marches involving more than a million people, has applied to stage another march on New Year's Day.
Police have arrested more than 6,000 people since the protests escalated in June.
Many Hong Kong residents are angry at what they see as Beijing's meddling in the freedoms promised to the former British colony when it returned to Chinese rule in 1997.
(Production: Mehmet Emin Caliskan, Hannah Ellison) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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