HK Police Fire Bean Bag at Protester’s Face, Ripping Woman’s Eyeball Open
By Carl Samson
A police officer shot pepper balls point-blank at a group of protesters in Hong Kong over the weekend.
The scene, which was caught on video, took place at Tai Koo MTR station around 11 p.m. on Sunday (11 a.m. ET).
In the video, police can be seen chasing after a group of activists descending an escalator.
Shockingly, one officer fired his pepper ball gun at close range.
The officer then grabbed and pinned a male protester to the floor before others joined in to beat him with their batons.
The video posted on Apple Daily’s Facebook page has received more than 3.5 million views, with many condemning the officer’s actions.
In an interview with RTHK, Civil Rights Observer founder Icarus Wong said that the officers were “venting their anger at live targets.”
“There were large numbers of officers and they could have subdued protesters with bare hands. The scene was chaotic and the police action could have led to protesters falling down the escalator, causing a stampede,” Wong said, according to Hong Kong Free Press.
In a separate incident around 7:30 p.m. on the same day, a female protester was found with a bleeding right eye outside Tsim Sha Tsui police station.
According to reports, the woman is believed to have been shot by a bean bag round, which was found on the site.
The woman, who received an emergency operation, reportedly suffered a ruptured eyeball, a damaged right eyelid, and a broken maxilla.
As per police rules, bean bag rounds must not be shot toward a target’s head.
An eye patch in reference to the protester’s injury has since become a symbol of protest.
Activists at Hong Kong International Airport on Monday also carried placards with the words “an eye for an eye.”
According to the Global Times, police claimed that there was no evidence showing that the woman’s injury resulted from their actions, but vowed to investigate further.
A doctor familiar with the woman’s case claimed that she could lose her eye, the South China Morning Post reported.
Featured Image (left) via Facebook/The Standard, (right) via Twitter/@frances_sit
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