Thousands of officers flooded the streets to stop a demonstration that had been planned to show public anger over the postponement and the imposition of a draconian security law.
Thousands of police officers in riot gear filled the streets of Hong Kong on Sunday, stifling efforts to protest the postponement of legislative elections and China’s imposition of a national security law that gives the authorities sweeping new powers to pursue critics. A large police presence was seen across the Kowloon Peninsula, where some activists had called for a march on the day the elections were initially scheduled to take place despite social distancing rules that prohibit mass gatherings. Occasional pro-democracy chants broke out as small groups wound through side streets, but the number of demonstrators remained small compared with the huge crowds that gathered last year. Officers stopped and searched several people and arrested at least 90 people suspected of unlawful assembly and other charges, according to police statements. One person was arrested under the National Security Law after chanting a pro-independence slogan, the police said. The activists Figo Chan, Leung Kwok-hung and Raphael Wong of the League of Social Democrats, a leftist pro-democracy group, were among those arrested, according to a post on Mr. Chan’s Facebook page. A photographer for a digital news outlet was taken away in a police vehicle, according to his employer, Truth Media Hong Kong. Video footage captured by reporters showed riot police officers grabbing a young girl and pinning her on the ground. Other videos showed plainclothes officers deploying pepper spray at close range and dragging a man across asphalt and sidewalks before putting him in handcuffs.
