The riots in Hong Kong doesn’t seem to be ending despite the pandemic as hundreds of Hong Kongers rally in these pro-democracy marches. At the same time, those who do not obey physical distancing rules will be arrested.
However, talks of police brutality have been brought up judging from the way the Hong Kong police were treating the rioters. Recently, a video went viral showing the police roughly tackling and manhandling a 12yo girl.
This is how HK police trrats 12 year old girl.
— 巴丢草 Badiucao (@badiucao) September 7, 2020
In the 18 second video, you can see how the girl was just walking and seemingly frightened when a policeman hit her with a baton and another tackled her to the ground. BBC reported that the police said that they only used “minimal force” after she “ran away in a suspicious manner”.
Does this look like a minimal force?
The girl, Pamela*, said that she was only out to buy school supplies and was scared when she got confronted by the police. Even though many other rioters and journalists tried to stop the police, they were asked to stand back as the police tackled the girl and her brother.
“The streets were cut off by police cordons so we had to double back to meet our family… but the police suddenly ran towards us. I was scared. They told us to stand still, but I panicked so I ran.”
In a statement by the Hong Kong police, they said they wanted to “stop and search” the girl but had to use force after she ran away.
“Upon investigation, she and other protestors at the scene were participating in a prohibited group gathering, breaching the Prevention and Control of Disease (Prohibition on Group Gathering) Regulation”, he said.
Hong Kong riots
Did the police take it a step too far with their disciplinary action? Let us know in the comments section!
Also read: Here’s All You Need To Know About The HK Protests That Have Shut Down Airports
