Demonstrators and police clashed in Hong Kong Monday night and early Tuesday morning after authorities started to crack down on unlicensed food vendors in the Mong Kok district.
It's become a tradition in the area for the street hawkers to sell fish balls and other items during the Lunar New Year, and activists were upset that police tried to shut the vendors down, saying an important part of the area's culture was under attack, The Associated Press reports. Protesters threw bottles, trash, and pieces of wood, and set fires in the street. In a statement, local police said demonstrators refused to get out of the street and shoved officers. In turn, authorities used batons and pepper spray against the protesters.
Three men were arrested and three injured officers were treated at area hospitals. This was the worst violence in Hong Kong since 2014's pro-democracy protests, AP reports.
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