I can’t source the motivations of the HK police, but their taking cautions to avoid the appearance of police brutality should be evident from comparing the HK protests to the police response to BLM in America or the Chilean protests around that time.
But I specifically remember multiple pictures of HK cops engulfed in fire after getting hit directly. Maybe they all lived, but it seems more likely we wouldn’t know due to there being no reason for western media to promote them.
The cops were likely doused with ABC powder by their fellow cops, and got away with light burns (heavy clothing helps). Lee Chi-cheung seems to have been hurt badly. The protester with a stick and swimming board was saved by surgeons (the bullet missed his heart).
A side note: some HK brutality was outsourced to the “white shirts”, whose allegiance could be denied. (In HK, a black shirt meant you were a protester, while a crowd of young men in white shirts with sticks - was usually associated with triads doing a favour to the city government. Their most publicized “feat” was the mass beating at Yuen Long subway station.) Overall, Hong Kongers seem to have done their protest with “comparatively little violence” (relative to their total number).
When mass protest occurred in Chile, I was busy and missed the news. I managed to register what was happening, but no details.
An example of the cost of a very severe protest which stopped short of a war, would be the Maidan events in Ukraine. The cost was 108 civilians and 13 police killed. A big number for a protest - mostly bullet wounds - but a small number compared to what is taken by a war.
I can’t source the motivations of the HK police, but their taking cautions to avoid the appearance of police brutality should be evident from comparing the HK protests to the police response to BLM in America or the Chilean protests around that time.
As far as deaths on the police and counter-protesters goes, I thought the guy the protesters lit on fire died, but he’s alive, and I can’t find any record of deaths from pretty documented use of molotovs, which is very unusual.
But I specifically remember multiple pictures of HK cops engulfed in fire after getting hit directly. Maybe they all lived, but it seems more likely we wouldn’t know due to there being no reason for western media to promote them.
The cops were likely doused with ABC powder by their fellow cops, and got away with light burns (heavy clothing helps). Lee Chi-cheung seems to have been hurt badly. The protester with a stick and swimming board was saved by surgeons (the bullet missed his heart).
A side note: some HK brutality was outsourced to the “white shirts”, whose allegiance could be denied. (In HK, a black shirt meant you were a protester, while a crowd of young men in white shirts with sticks - was usually associated with triads doing a favour to the city government. Their most publicized “feat” was the mass beating at Yuen Long subway station.) Overall, Hong Kongers seem to have done their protest with “comparatively little violence” (relative to their total number).
When mass protest occurred in Chile, I was busy and missed the news. I managed to register what was happening, but no details.
An example of the cost of a very severe protest which stopped short of a war, would be the Maidan events in Ukraine. The cost was 108 civilians and 13 police killed. A big number for a protest - mostly bullet wounds - but a small number compared to what is taken by a war.