Hong Kong police chief defends officers' delayed response to mob violence at train station

HONG KONG — The Hong Kong police chief admitted on Monday (July 22) that officers arrived 35 minutes after receiving the first report of attacks on protesters at Yuen Long railway station, but he denied colluding with triads over the mob violence.

Commissioner of Police Stephen Lo Wai-chung said that riot police arrived late on Sunday night because the force’s capacity had been stretched across Hong Kong Island dealing with protests, and promised a review of manpower and response times.

His comments came as hundreds of social workers marched on Monday afternoon against the “police’s failure to protect Yuen Long residents from thugs”, before handing over evidence they had gathered of gang members assaulting residents.

They also lodged police misconduct complaints at the district’s police station, the scene of a separate protest organised by pan-democratic lawmakers earlier on Monday.

A spokesman for Yoho Mall, which is next to the station and where some of Sunday’s attacks took place, said mall officials could not get through to police when they tried to report the incident.

Residents eventually helped take care of the injured, providing them with water and first aid, the shopping centre’s spokesman said.

A law enforcement source said that hundreds of 999 calls flooded the police call centre in New Territories North between 10pm and midnight on Sunday.

The attacks, which left at least 45 people injured, started at around 10.45pm, when a mob of men in white T-shirts, whom witnesses described as triad gangsters, attacked black-clad protesters and other passengers with sticks and metal rods at Yuen Long MTR station.

Pan-democratic lawmaker Eddie Chu Hoi-dick, representing New Territories West, said: “Police didn’t show up while thugs rampaged through the station and attacked Yuen Long residents indiscriminately last night.

“There is clear collusion between police and the gangs.”

The drama came as relations between police and the public have been strained by a series of extradition bill protests, some of which have ended in clashes between officers and protesters.

Meeting the press on Monday afternoon, Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor drew a clear line between her government and the attackers.

“Everyone should distance themselves from violence. Any accusation that the administration, me, the police chief and his colleagues colluded with the mob is groundless,” Ms Lam said.

“Such accusations hope to weaken the administration and make it harder for us to run the city.”

Mr Lo said in the same press conference that police first received a call about the Yuen Long violence at 10.45pm on Sunday.

Two officers who arrived on the scene seven minutes later backed off and called for help, after deciding they did not have the equipment to deal with armed crowds. The assailants left by the time police reinforcements arrived at 11.20pm.

Explaining the late arrival, Mr Lo said that officers had to attend to other assaults and arson incidents in Yuen Long, with resources also having to be deployed to Hong Kong Island.

“Every time there is a major event which may lead to violent confrontation, we have to redeploy our manpower from various districts to Hong Kong Island, so that I can ensure sufficient manpower to deal with these incidents,” Mr Lo said.

“Violence will only breed more violence. We will review our manpower deployment and do our best to ensure the public order and safety in all districts of Hong Kong.”

The police would look into gathering evidence as soon as possible and make arrests, he added.

Asked why some police stations in the vicinity of the Yuen Long attacks shut their doors on Sunday night, Mr Lo said it was for safety reasons because large groups of protesters were surrounding the stations. The public could still reach the police through the 999 hotline, he added.

“I want to reiterate that the police will not tolerate any violence. And we will pursue the attackers at all costs, in order to bring them to justice,” Mr Lo said.

Yuen Long District Commander and Chief Superintendent Lee Wai-man, who received the petition from lawmakers, said police were unable to keep up with the number of 999 calls they received about the incident.

He added that the force had not received any intelligence regarding any fresh attacks on Monday.

In the afternoon, hundreds of social workers marched from Long Ping MTR station to the police station, accompanied by 30 officers on the protesters’ request.

“We are exercising our legal right as citizens of Hong Kong to report crimes. It is the police’s responsibility to protect us social workers in doing so,” said Lun Chi-wai, president of Hong Kong Social Workers’ General Union. SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST