DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Palus Politicus Hong Kong is escalating

Hong Kong Police Shoot a Protester, 18, With a Live Bullet for the First Time

By Mike Ives
Oct. 1, 2019
Updated 1:46 p.m. ET

HONG KONG — A Hong Kong police officer on Tuesday shot a teenage demonstrator, the first time in months of protests that a live round was fired at a protester. The shooting capped an evening of violent protests, escalating the territory’s political crisis on the same day that the central government staged a huge military parade in Beijing to celebrate 70 years of Communist control.

The protesters in Hong Kong hoped to upstage Beijing’s celebrations by holding their own unauthorized marches. Violence quickly broke out, as demonstrators in districts across the city engaged in some of the bloodiest and most sustained clashes since protesters began taking to the streets in early June.

The split screen — pageantry in Beijing versus violence, tear gas and street fires in a restive Chinese territory — was hardly the image that China’s top leader, Xi Jinping, had hoped to show the world.

The protester was shot in the Tsuen Wan district of northern Hong Kong. Tsuen Wan is a working-class area near Hong Kong’s border with the Chinese mainland, miles from the city’s gleaming financial district.

Yolanda Yu, a spokeswoman for the Hong Kong Police Force, said in a video posted on the force’s Facebook page that the protester was an 18-year-old who had been shot in the left shoulder. She said the protester was conscious as he was taken to the hospital.

Local news media reported that the young man was a high school student.

Ms. Yu said the officer who shot the protester had been under attack by violent “rioters” who were threatening officers’ lives. “In order to save himself and his colleagues, he fired one shot at the attacker,” she said.

The Hong Kong police commissioner, Stephen Lo, told reporters at a late-night news conference that doctors were treating the young man who had been shot. He said the protester had been arrested and that the authorities would decide later whether to press charges of assaulting a police officer.

Mr. Lo said the officer who shot the protester on Tuesday acted in a “legal and reasonable” manner by giving a verbal warning before he opened fire. The officer had been assaulted at close quarters, Mr. Lo said, and had no other choice but to fire a live bullet.

“The range was not determined by the police officer, but by the perpetrator,” he said.

The police force also said on Twitter that there had been “rioting acts” on Tuesday across Kowloon, Hong Kong Island and the New Territories — the three main areas of the city.

Hong Kong’s Hospital Authority later said that 51 people had been sent to the hospital by early Tuesday evening, two of them in critical condition.

In a video circulating online, an officer is seen firing a handgun at close range at a protester wearing a black T-shirt and a pink gas mask.

In the video, the protester who was shot is first seen joining a black-clad mob of people who chase a riot officer and tackle him to the ground. They kick him and beat him with what appear to be metal pipes.

At one point, the protester approaches a second police officer who is standing nearby with a handgun drawn. Just after the protester hits the officer with the pipe, the officer fires at the man at point-blank range.

A few seconds later, a gasoline bomb thrown from offscreen — presumably by a protester — lands at the feet of the officer who fired the shot. In another video, the protester who was shot is seen being treated by paramedics.

The video of the shooting was filmed by a reporter from Campus TV, a student-run television station at the University of Hong Kong, and provided to The New York Times by another reporter at the station.

The Hong Kong police have fired hundreds of rounds of tear gas, rubber bullets and beanbag rounds to disperse street demonstrations since the protests began in June. On a few occasions, officers have fired live rounds into the air as warning shots, typically when they were surrounded by violent protesters.

Tuesday’s shooting was almost certain to further inflame protesters who have accused the police of employing overly aggressive tactics in the streets. Calls for an independent inquiry into the police’s behavior are among the key demands that protesters have issued to the Hong Kong government.

Natalie Chan, a university student who was protesting on Tuesday night in the Tuen Mun district, not far from Tsuen Wan, said that the Hong Kong police were “hurting innocent people.”

“We can’t let them continue,” Ms. Chan said of the police, as other protesters bashed traffic lights and the windows of shops and restaurants.

Elsie Chen, Jin Wu, Javier C. Hernández and Ezra Cheung contributed reporting.

NYT

power to the people! screw the police!

Not good. I saw a report in the last few days that said the Chinese have quietly doubled the military presence there in the last month.

Meanwhile lil Kim is lobbing missals into the China Sea. Our farms are becoming unproductive fields. We sell billions of dollars of weapons to Saudi Arabia and now they want us to help protect them from Iran while they destroy and kill off their own who speak out against them including journalists.

And trump seems to only have time to pressure foreign countries to find dirt on his political opponents and cover it up and tweet bs. Pfft trump era. MAGA.. Enjoy.

Somebody asked Trump directly about why we are taking SA's side and he said, "They pay cash."... smh

Considering they now proved they can’t or won’t protect themselves from Iran ...where did the weapons go? Or a better question is, who are the Saudi’s selling or giving those weapons to? Where are they now? Show us?

While I agree with the protestors in principal, their fight I'm afraid is futile. China is scheduled to completely take over Hong Kong in 2047. That was set in stone via an agreement in 1997.

The closer it gets to that date the more China will work to influence things in Hong Kong. Hong Kong is a special administrative region of the People’s Republic of China. For a pretty good explanation of all this......

https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/democracy-hong-kong

They are fighting against totalitarian regimes and authoritarian figures. The same figures that trump admires and speaks great about all the time.

I support them 100% and screw the police!!

You do realize that China takes over Hong Kong in 2047, right? You may wish to look at the link I posted.

A lot of things can change in 28 years bro.

Oh I understand that. But I try to think of it as a common sense issue. Who is going to go to that part of the world to stand up against China in support of Hong Kong? That's right in China's back yard.

Hong Kong lacks the military strength to do anything on their own. And while most don't know it, China has to approve of political candidates running for office.

Beijing to Hong Kong: you can vote, but we select the candidates

https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opi...vote-we-select-

There's actually little to no chance the agreement entered into will not come to pass.

When asked about China's suppression of human rights, Steve Kerr, James Harden, and Steph Curry all bravely proclaimed that they just gonna "shut up and dribble"...

i think its a bad look for the NBA to not stand up for the hong kong protestors. im disappointed in them.

Sadly, it's all about the Benjimans for the NBA. Even one owner backed off.

NBA's Apology to China Draws Outrage Across Political Spectrum

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/nbas-apology-china-draws-outrage-political-spectrum-1245772

At some point people and corporations must decide which is more important, their principals or the money. The NBA has made that decision. Their answer is the money.

It's not even like they have to have some big outspoken protest, they won't even let fans hold signs that say "Free Hong Kong" in the stands.. The signs are being confiscated... it's a HORRIBLE look and they are getting justifiably roasted on Twitter.

I was going to say "follow the money", but you beat me to it.

Unfortunately they don't. We have plenty examples of people and corporations who are more than willing to waffle back and forth between principals and money depending on which one benefits them the most given the situation.

The problem the NBA is facing at the moment is that their "principals" are already highly documented.. supporting players who protest during the national anthem, allowing players and owners and fans to speak out and demonstrate on social justice issues, allowing teams to warm up in "I CAN'T BREATHE" t-shirts, etc... They knew that the majority of their fans supported this position so they didn't have to sacrifice their money for their principals...

then came China...

China's Xi Jinping warns attempts to divide country will end in 'crushed bodies and shattered bones'

As street battles between protesters and police continue to escalate in Hong Kong, China's authoritarian leader warned Sunday any further attempt to divide the country will literally be crushed.

Chinese President Xi Jinping made the comments during a visit to Nepal, where he became the first Chinese president in more than two decades to visit the country.


“Anyone attempting to split China in any part of the country will end in crushed bodies and shattered bones,” he told Nepalese Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli, China's state broadcaster CCTV reported. “And any external forces backing such attempts dividing China will be deemed by the Chinese people as pipe-dreaming!”

I see Lebron is getting destroyed on Twitter today for basically sticking up for China. I can understand him wishing that Morey had waited before saying something, as the players were sort of sent to China and then hung out to dry as a political firestorm erupted around them. But coming back from that and then saying that Morey is uneducated on the situation? He sounds like someone cow-towing the China position so that Space Jam 2 doesn't get banned from theaters there.

I wonder why NBA players are always up in arms about their own rights while speaking out about the free speech of others? Yet another thing that makes me go hmmmmmm.

Chairman James.

1.4 billion slaves, and they hold their tongues.

We seldom agree and maybe you were a little harsh in your response. But I certainly won't disagree with you.

I am in awe of the power of social media, specifically Twitter and Facebook on the worlds stage today. They may very well be our undoing as a species or the tool that helps us evolve from tribalism and corrupt despotic governments that control the world to a world that we all thrive in.

I may be overstating the power of the two, but nothing else comes close to them by comparison.

LeBron deserves to get destroyed, as does the rest of the NBA. Best image I saw was of him warming up in a black t-shirt that said "I Can't Breathe" on the front of it in Chinese...

China is a huge market for them.. Nike has 109 (20%) their factories in China, the NBA answers to Nike...

In the eyes of a lot of people, for the foreseeable future, the NBA won't be able to take a strong stand on any social justice issue without getting shredded.

How bad do you have to be in order to be the subject of a condemnation letter that AOC and Ted Cruz are both willing to sign?

Social media is just phone calls, newspapers, op-eds, magazines, and the nightly news at unregulated speed of light. It's ability to do good and it's ability to do harm are both still at the mercy of human nature and those who use it. And I don't expect human nature to change.. it hasn't in thousands of years.

I have no stance on lebron at this point because I haven't been following that well, but I have to say this:

- All those condemning China and the NBA (Nike and others) need to look around at all the crap they own that was made in China.

- All those thinking China cares what they think are lying to themselves.

- All those blasting lebron need to take into account all the things he has done that were good. DISCLAIMER: * I say this being ill informed of today's developments or what all was said. But Lebron has done a lot of good things so I don't think this destroys all of that no matter what.

As far as Hong Kong, and to a lesser degree Taiwan, it is all a political crapstorm for all involved. I stand with the protesters wanting to preserve democracy in Hong Kong in my beliefs. But with the crap Trump is doing around the world and here in our country I can't see where we have any sort of moral high ground to condemn China. All I can say is I hope the protestors prevail.

I think the problem a lot of people have is something you just posted. I mean do we really need to look at the good to see the bad?

To me, you can look at each thing based on its merit. The good things are good. That however doesn't make the bad things any less bad.

I agree with that. My point is, one bad thing (like this) won't or shouldn't destroy him. I just caught up on the things that were said. Personally, I think twitter is over reacting but I can see why they are flaming lebron.

I just think when you say something like that, the next time you speak out about fairness or justice, even freedom, it will ring somewhat hollow.

I get him saying things along the lines of, "Be mindful of what you say when there are players over there that will directly experience the repercussions of your words." That's an understandable point.

But when you say things like "He's misinformed and doesn't know what he's talking about" ... it kinds of sounds like you're standing up for the dictatorship or telling Morey he should just shut up and manage rosters.

His comments boiled down to.. "I don't know enough to comment or have an opinion... but the Rockets owner who supported the protestors was uninformed".. I don't know how one person, who claims to be uninformed can call another person with a strong opinion, uninformed... then he talked about how the owners comments could impact people financially, etc.. yea, it could cost the NBA a crap load of money...

But as for the sentiment.. if you can take a person who has lived a relatively productive life and tear them down for one inappropriate sentiment or one tweet from their teen years or wearing black face at a college party two decades ago... the precedent has been set, all the good in the world doesn't overcome your worst moment. I hate it, I have argued YOUR point many times.. that most people are a compilation of good and bad moments and we need to balance them out.. but our culture doesn't seem to value that approach.

I get it. If he was helping kids, then suddenly raped one... the bad could not be overlooked and destroys any good he's done. If he was helping kids, then came out and said kids actually get on his damn nerves... The good should not be destroyed by the bad.

In this case, he should have shut up and dribbled. That's what twitter says anyway.

That's the problem. He shut up and dribbled for china's money, but refused to do so here when commenting on politics.

Even China is burning LeBron's jersey.

And Twitter is right... Darn near every political thread in this board turns into a discussion about hypocrisy.. "Sure you are ok with it now but you whined about it when the other side did it." That's what he's being accused of...

To borrow a line from my buddy Pit.. the problem is that he is now viewed as saying, "I WILL STAND FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE... but for just us."

In LeBron's defense I suggest that maybe he is just frightened.

China's Xi Jinping did say any attempts to divide China will end in 'crushed bodies and shattered bones'.

That could really hurt.

Well I just watched Trump talk about how the republican party is treated so bad by dems, media, laws, etc... And how people like me should never ever ever be allowed to run this country because we will ruin it...

Everybody is looking out for their own interests these days. Lebron is no different, he just stepped on his own toes with this one.

And I think that's the key here. "with this one".

To me he has done a lot of good. He has been a great example and done so much for those in his community.

But I believe everyone who gives him credit for the good so also call him out on the bad.

To me it's not indictment of him on a grand scale. It's an indictment of him in this situation.

j/c...

Barstool has some new Bron Bron t-shirts available...