Riot police fire tear gas to disperse Hong Kong protesters

Tear gas is fired on Austin Road, Kowloon.

The air on Austin Road is thick with smoke and tear gas. Riot police are advancing in a line, with their shields up, creating a wall of plastic.

There are still thousands of protesters on the streets. They are being pushed back, but they’re throwing back tear gas canisters and bricks at police.

Watch it here:

Parts of the sidewalk in Kowloon have been dug up by protesters, who now routinely use bricks as weapons to throw at the police.

Riot police fire tear gas at protesters in Kowloon.

Riot police on Kowloon’s Austin Road are firing tear gas, minutes after mobilizing.

Live footage on local media show riot police mobilizing, clearing barricades and warning protesters to leave.

They are armed with riot gear, including batons and body-length plastic shields.

A fire lit inside a car inside the Tsim Sha Tsui police station.

Protesters appear to have started a fire inside a car parked inside the police station.

Less than half an hour ago, they also started a blaze outside the station entrance on Nathan Road. Firefighters have put out that first blaze, and now there are two fire trucks pulled up at the scene.

Police inside the Tsim Sha Tsui Police Station have raised a black flag – warning they may soon fire tear gas.

They already raised the flag earlier this evening, but soon lowered it and no gas was fired.

But as protesters surround the station shouting obscenities and taunts, and setting things ablaze, things are reaching a boiling point. Earlier, protesters set a pile of cardboard on fire outside the station, which has since been extinguished by firefighters.

Firefighters have extinguished the blaze that was burning in front of the Tsim Sha Tsui Police Station.

Protesters outside the station lit the fire in front of the Nathan Road entrance, using what appeared to be cardboard and paper.

The firefighters arrived less than ten minutes later, and the fire is now out. Meanwhile, the protestors are shouting taunts and mocking the police for needing firefighters to save them.

“This isn’t how you play the game,” one shouted. “Where are your forces?”

Protesters outside the Tsim Sha Tsui Police Station have started a blaze in front of one of the building’s entrances – it’s the second time now they have used fire during a protest. Last week in Sheung Wan, protesters pushed a cart piled with flaming cardboard at riot police, who responded with tear gas.

This evening, they appear to have set cardboard boxes and papers on fire. The blaze is burning in front of a recycling bin protesters moved to block the police station gate.

The police station’s fire alarm is now ringing, with protesters cheering whenever the fire grows higher.

Watch it here:

Traffic lights on Nathan Road are going dark.

Protesters have been digging into the poles of the traffic lights and cutting the cables. They have blocked off most of the major artery, and spilled over to other nearby streets like Austin Road and Jordan Road.

Police have released a statement as protesters wreak havoc outside a Kowloon police station.

The protesters have spent the past half hour throwing eggs and bricks at the police station, also site to the Yau Tsim District Police Headquarters, spraying graffiti onto the station walls, and using long metal poles to reach through the gates and shatter car windows.

Protesters are gathering outside the Yau Tsim Police Station in Kowloon – and many of them are young and angry.

Last month, an armed mob in Yuen Long, in the north of the city, attacked people returning from a protest in downtown Hong Kong, leaving dozens injured. Many protesters accuse the police of failing to prevent the attack.

“I’m not afraid,” said another 21-year-old at Yau Tsim on Sunday. “It depends on the situation but I’ll leave when they start coming out. We’re all not afraid. We’re angry about the Yuen Long incident.”

He added that he was also frustrated that several of the attackers had only been arrested for illegal assembly – whereas some protesters last week were charged with the more severe offence of rioting.

Riot police have been spotted leaving Mong Kok station.

Meanwhile, protesters are gathering for a showdown with police at the east entrance to the Yau Tsim police station, where they’ve been smashing windows of cars.

Protesters in Kowloon massed outside the gates of a police station are shouting taunts and obscenities at officers through the iron bars.

“Are you afraid?” one of the protesters shouted.

“You brought this upon yourself,” another said.

A window of a car inside the police station has been smashed, after protesters used long poles to reach through the gate and shatter the glass. As the glass broke, protesters cheered.

Earlier, the police had raised a black flag – the warning they may fire tear gas. The flag has since been lowered and the mood has calmed slightly.

But the protests show no sign of dying down – some people are throwing eggs at station signs, others are prying bricks up from the road. In previous protests, they have thrown bricks and other projectiles at the police, who responded with tear gas.

Watch protesters trying to break car windows inside the police station:

Protesters gather in the shopping district of Tsim Sha Tsui in Hong Kong on August 3, 2019.

One of Hong Kong’s busiest shopping districts has gone completely quiet. 

Tsim Tsa Tsui is usually packed with shoppers, but with roads impassable by car and thousands of protesters wearing black on the streets, the stores have shuttered.

A few confused and frustrated shoppers are hurrying between crowds of protesters, who are now preparing for a potential showdown with police.

It isn’t the first time protesters have shut down Hong Kong’s shops in the past two months. Figures from June showed Hong Kong’s retail sales had dropped 6.5%, according to Chinese state media Xinhua.

Protesters in Hong Kong are now heading from Mong Kok down to Jordan and Tsim Sha Tsui – the major shopping district on the tip of Kowloon. 

Here’s what has happened since our last catch-up:

Police in Kowloon’s Tsim Sha Tsui have just raised a black flag – a warning that they may start firing tear gas.

There are thousands of protesters illegally gathered in Kowloon on Nathan Road. They have also gone to nearby police stations, spraying graffiti and blocking entrances.

Here’s what the police flag colors mean, in order of extremity:

The Harbour City shopping mall in Kowloon’s Tsim Sha Tsui, where protesters are gathering on the streets, is eerily empty.

Normally, the mall would be packed full of people browsing the luxury shops and having dinner at this time on a Saturday. But today luxury stores have closed hours early on their busiest day of the week.

The police have temporarily suspended Report Room services in the Mong Kok police station, and the Reporting Center in the Hung Hom police station inside the subway.

Earlier in the evening, they also suspended some services in the Yau Ma Tei and the Tsim Sha Tsui police stations.

In a statement, the police urged protesters not to obstruct major roads that could get in the way of emergency vehicles. Still, protesters have blocked most of Nathan Road, a major artery in Kowloon, as well as several side roads like Austin Road and Jordan Road.

People attend a protest in the Mong Kok district of Hong Kong on August 3, 2019.

It’s been almost five hours since protesters started to gather in Mong Kok for a demonstration that has now spread down the entire Kowloon Peninsula – but so far, barely a police officer has been seen.

Some protestors have gathered outside the Yau Tsim District police headquarters and the Tsim Sha Tsim police station, shining lasers up the walls and spraying graffiti on the walls outside.

The graffiti in Chinese reads "triad" outside a police station.

The writing on the wall outside the Yau Tsim station says “triad” – perhaps a reference to accusations that police failed to act when a mob attacked civilians in Yuen Long last month. Several of the arrested attackers are linked to criminal gangs called triads.

The lack of police presence today is a striking contrast to the major force they’ve displayed in previous weeks at other anti-government, anti-extradition bill protests.

But we’ve seen this more measured tactic before. On July 1, when protesters stormed and trashed the Legislative Council building the police were largely hands-off. Then at the end of the night, they moved in hard and fast, clearing the demonstrators in less than an hour.

Protesters in Kowloon's Nathan Road are waiting to see what's next.

Protesters on Nathan Road, a major artery in Kowloon, are beginning to gear up for a potential showdown with police … before a single police car has even been spotted.

Organizers are handing out bags of protective gear, including gloves, helmets, and face masks. Some protesters are even arming themselves with bamboo poles – which are often used in Hong Kong construction.

Some protesters in Kowloon are arming themselves with bamboo poles.

The atmosphere is steadily getting more tense.

Some protesters are now preparing barricades on Jordan Road and Austin Road, two major roads that intersect with Nathan Road. Still more are heading down Nathan Road towards Tsim Tsa Tsui.

Without any police presence, and with the protesters having no clear plan, many people here are just milling around, waiting to see what’s next.

Watch protesters push barricades down Nathan Road:

The screenshot on the right shows traffic on the Kowloon side of the Cross-Harbor Tunnel, while the left shows traffic on the Hong Kong Island side.

Hong Kong police are urging protesters to stop blocking the Cross-Harbour Tunnel, the city’s busiest and most-crucial tunnel.

The protesters in Kowloon are barricading the tunnel entrances, preventing vehicles from crossing between Hong Kong Island and Kowloon and causing “serious obstruction to the traffic,” the police statement said.

Police are also warning the public to avoid traveling to the affected area.

A protester man holds up a US flag at an anti-extradition bill rally in Hong Kong on July 5, 2019.

Many protesters in Mong Kok today are waving United States flags, as they have done in previous protests these past few weeks.

Some Hong Kongers who oppose the protests have accused the US of influencing the pro-democracy marches – an accusation the Chinese Foreign Ministry has echoed.

But how true is it?

No evidence: China has not provided any evidence for its allegations. The Foreign Ministry only made reference to public meetings between well-known Hong Kong pro-democracy leaders and US politicians.

US response: The US State Department called Beijing’s claims “ridiculous” in a statement to CNN. “It is not credible to think that millions of people are being manipulated to stand for a free and open society,” the statement said.

However, the department spokesperson later revised the statement to take a more diplomatic stance. “We categorically reject the charge of foreign forces as being behind the protests,” the updated statement said.

It’s worth noting, however, that Washington has meddled in other countries’ politics in the past.

Read more about it here.

Protesters in Mong Kok are building barricades on Jordan Road, next to Nathan Road.

Tens of thousands of protesters have taken over one of Hong Kong’s main arteries, Nathan Road, from Mong Kok all the way down to Jordan. 

All six lanes of the major road are now blocked to traffic.

Earlier, there was a relatively quiet atmosphere when protesters broke away from the approved route. But now they’ve picked up steam, chanting and handing out supplies. 

Demonstrators are now streaming down towards Tsim Tsa Tsui – the major shopping district on the tip of Kowloon. 

Some have begun to build barricades, pulling fences and steel barriers on to the street.

Despite the mass protest on this unapproved route being an illegal assembly, there are still no signs of police.

Organizers say 120,000 people attended today’s Mong Kok protests.

Watch the protesters building barricades:

Footage from local media show protesters in Hung Hom are making road blocks across the Cross Harbour Tunnel – which would prevent vehicles crossing the harbor between Hong Kong Island and Kowloon.

Staff from the Cross Harbor Tunnel are now negotiating with the protesters, according to local broadcaster iCable.

The Report Rooms of two police stations have been suspended due to protesters blocking Nathan Road, a major artery in Mong Kok, according to a police statement.

The affected stations are the Yau Ma Tei Police Station and the Tsim Sha Tsui Police Station.

The protesters are now stretching down Nathan Road, from Mong Kok district into Tsim Sha Tsui district. Several protesters have taken it upon themselves to conduct traffic control.

Protesters in Mong Kok have reached the designated end point of Cherry Street Park and some are deviating far off the police-approved march route.

Thousands are now marching down Nathan Road and beginning to build barricades, blocking one of Hong Kong’s busiest roads in the dense center of Mong Kok district.

The march on Nathan Road is now classified as an illegal assembly – in recent weeks, police have responded to those with forcible dispersal methods.

Hong Kong has two dueling rallies today – an anti-extradition, anti-government march in Mong Kok and a pro-police assembly in Causeway Bay’s Victoria Park.

If you’re just joining us, here’s what you need to know:

The Mong Kok protest is stretched out over several city blocks as demonstrators pass by Hong Kong Polytechnic University’s West Kowloon campus.

They are approaching the designated end point of Cherry Street Park, but it is unclear what will happen when they reach it.

Earlier in the afternoon, the police said in a statement that some protesters had deviated from the approved route – and warned that such a deviation would constitute an illegal assembly.

Watch the Mong Kok marchers:

Protesters are tying fences and street signs together to create barricades along the Mong Kok march route.

They’re also building makeshift Lennon Walls as they go – walls plastered with sticky notes bearing encouraging messages, slogans and art.

Protesters are building Lennon Walls along the Mong Kok march route.

Hong Kong police have released a statement urging Mong Kok protesters to stay on the pre-approved march route.

“With reference to the agreement between the police and organizer, the participants should proceed from Anchor Street through Hoi Wang Road towards Hoi Ting Road,” the statement said.

The police initially rejected the march application, citing concerns with the route and safety, but approved it late Friday after organizers changed the route.

Police officers arrest a protester on July 7.

As some protesters embrace more extreme – and sometimes violent – tactics, police are beginning to make arrests.

Police arrested eight people on Thursday night, including the leader of a banned pro-independence party, for possession of offensive weapons and suspected bomb-making materials.

On July 19, police arrested three people after finding 2 kilograms (4.4 pounds) of high explosives and 10 petrol bombs in a raid in the city’s west.

 And last Sunday, 44 people were arrested and charged with rioting – including a 16-year-old girl. The charge carries a possible sentence of up to 10 years in prison.

In Causeway Bay’s Victoria Park, a few thousand people have gathered for the pro-police rally.

Johnson, a 71-year-old who declined to give his last name, told CNN he has nephews and nieces marching across the harbor in Mong Kok, where an anti-government, anti-extradition bill protest is taking place.

Johnson said he tried to put “sense” into their heads, but they didn’t listen. He added that they should be sent to mainland China to learn about the country, which would “educate” them and change their minds.

Today’s dueling rallies began earlier this afternoon.

Watch the pro-police assembly:

Protesters in Mong Kok march towards Cherry Street Park, the designated end point.

The previous eight weeks of protests featured a number of violent clashes between police and demonstrators.

Last weekend, hundreds of police officers dispersed protests in Sheung Wan and Yuen Long.

But as protesters march now in Mong Kok – one of the world’s most densely populated areas – not a single police car is in sight along the route. The only official presence appears to be a large group of ambulances.

Thousands of protesters are marching in Mong Kok, towards the designated end point of Cherry Street Park.

It is one of two rallies today – a pro-police assembly is taking place in Causeway Bay’s Victoria Park, across the harbor from Mong Kok.

Watch the Mong Kok march:

Protesters have accused the Hong Kong police of excessive violence.

Many Mong Kok protesters are holding signs bearing slogans and art. Some of them are directly aimed at the police, who protesters accuse of using excessive force and brutality.

One sign reads, “Hong Kong police, keep calm, please don’t fire.”

Another reads, “Don’t shoot our kids. Shame on police.”

Protesters held up signs as they began marching in Hong Kong's Mong Kok district.

The scene greeting passengers arriving at Hong Kong's international airport during protests.

As the Hong Kong protests continue with no end in sight, the city’s tourism industry has taken a hit.

Flight bookings down: Between June 16 and July 13, flight bookings to Hong Kong from Asia fell by 5.4% compared to the same period last year, according to analysis firm ForwardKeys.

Before the protests kicked off in early June, flight bookings to the city were up 6.6% in the first six months of 2019, compared to the same period of 2018.

However, bookings have picked up slightly in recent weeks, the research firm found.

Is Hong Kong safe to visit? Several countries, including the UK, Canada, Japan, South Korea and the UAE, have issued demonstration alerts to citizens.

That has some tourists worried. A quick search of social media platforms such as Twitter throws up numerous examples of people asking whether it is safe to visit the semi-autonomous Chinese city.

A spokesperson from the city’s Tourism Commission said the majority of protests were peaceful. However residents and tourists have been caught in the fray – one tourist told CNN he was tear gassed by police while trying to find his hotel.

Today marks the third consecutive day of protests – on Friday, a group of civil servants met in the city’s central business district, calling for the government to respect the “five demands” of the protesters, which include greater democracy and an investigation into police conduct.

It came after thousands of financial workers gathered in the same location on Thursday night in support of the protest movement.

There are also demonstrations planned for the coming days, including general strikes and protests in seven of Hong Kong’s districts on Monday.

A group of protesters lead the march, which has just kicked off in Mong Kok.

Protesters have started marching from Mong Kok’s Anchor Street Playground.

March leaders are holding a black banner that reads, “Police have too much power.”

All around them, crowds are chanting, “Hong Kong, add oil” – a local rallying call.

Protesters spent the last hour in the playground, distributing food and supplies. Speakers and organizers addressed the crowd, with bands playing in the streets.

Crowds arrived quickly, spilling out into the surrounding area.

Protesters gathering in Mong Kok's Anchor Street Playground spilled out into the surrounding streets.

The atmosphere in Mong Kok is calm and peaceful at the moment – but some protesters are prepared in case the situation escalates.

The protesters are wearing hard hats and face masks, and are handing out gas masks. Dramatic images of tear gas filling residential areas, as pro-democracy protesters engage in street battles with police, have been beamed around the world in recent weeks.

Gas masks are being handed out among protesters in Mong Kok.

Many Mong Kok shops are closed today in anticipation of the anti-extradition bill, anti-government march, which has just kicked off.

Local hotels are also taking precautions. One hotel in Kowloon, about a mile from where protesters have gathered, distributed notices warning guests of the ongoing protests.

The notice also listed the areas where protests are planned in the coming weeks, warning visitors to avoid those locations.

Read it here:

Today’s anti-government, anti-extradition bill protest is taking place in the district of Mong Kok, one of the most crowded places in the world – its population density reaches up to 130,000 people per square kilometer (52,000 per square mile)

The rally was given last-minute permission by the police late Friday. Though the official protest route is expected to skirt the main residential and shopping areas, an influx of thousands could pose difficulties for protest planners and police.

A gathering in support of the Hong Kong police is also being held on Saturday in Victoria Park, Causeway Bay, titled “Give Peace a Chance.”

Fried chicken from a local restaurant.

As protesters gather in Mong Kok’s Anchor Street Playground, waiting for the anti-extradition bill march to begin, they’re passing around a treat – fried chicken.

Protesters told CNN the trays of fried chicken had been supplied by local restaurants.

There are other free food items being passed around – water, buns, biscuits, muesli and granola bars, and sports drinks.

At the Mong Kok rally, there are many young people dressed in black – the color associated with the protests – as well as plenty of families and children.

One man surnamed Yu, there with his wife and 11-year-old son, told CNN he was attending because the government still hadn’t responded to protester demands.

He said they would go home if violence broke out, but “we are out there because we want our son to understand what is going on in Hong Kong now.”

“If the police did not disperse protesters the way they did, violence would not have escalated. We are angry about it and we understand why protesters are angry as well and reacted the way they did,” he said.

“It pains us to see so many young students being hurt, arrested and possibly lose their futures.”

Bands play on the street at the Mong Kok march on August 3, 2019.

As pro-democracy, anti-government protesters gather in Mong Kok, the atmosphere is light. A band is playing music on the street, and organizers are passing out free food and water.

Anchor Playground, where the march is set to begin at 3 p.m. local time, is now packed – it’s a sea of black shirts, yellow press vests and protective yellow hard hats.

There are some signs in English -- like one that offers both free food and free hugs.

People are also waving Taiwan, UK, US and Hong Kong colonial flags.

Protesters in Mong Kok wave US, UK and Taiwan flags.

People gather in Hong Kong's Victoria Park for a pro-police rally on August 3, 2019.

The pro-police assembly in Causeway Bay’s Victoria Park has started, with music playing and bands performing on stage.

Spectators cheered and clapped along, with the atmosphere peaceful and light.

Rally-goers carry Hong Kong and Chinese flags, as well as banners and signs.

The title of the rally is “Give Peace a Chance” – and it’s emblazoned in a huge banner behind the stage. People are also waving banners with the slogan, and wielding Hong Kong and Chinese flags.

It’s been a chaotic summer in Hong Kong. The protests began in June, and as we enter the ninth consecutive weekend of demonstrations there is no clear end in sight.

Here’s what you need to know: