Pro-government mob destroys protest site in Hong Kong

(Image credit: Chris McGrath/Getty Images)

last updated 8 January 2015

Friday marked the sixth day of Hong Kong's protests against Beijing's interference in local politics, but the demonstrations took an unexpected turn. A pro-government mob destroyed one of the pro-democracy protest sites on Friday afternoon (local time) in the Mong Kok district of the Kowloon peninsula.

Time reports from Hong Hong that hundreds joined in the pro-government mob, "attacking students, trashing student tents, and hurling obscenities." The police were apparently "overwhelmed" by the new mob, but they eventually were able to evacuate some of the pro-democracy protesters.

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The South China Morning Post adds that the pro-government mob was led by a "middle-aged Putonghua-speaking woman wearing a face mask using a loud hailer," though the mob's political affiliations were not clear. Student activists issued a statement calling the mob's actions "organized attacks" and threatening to cancel a planned "dialogue on political reform" with Hong Kong authorities if the government didn't immediately stop the assaults.

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