Police warning marks new escalation in Hong Kong protests
Hong Kong police surround university as standoff with students continues
Protesters are retreating from the flyover after police fired tear gas
For a while this morning, it appeared police would not take the bait that protesters had set: building barricades and causing disruptions on streets in Kowloon's Tsim Sha Tsui district, in an attempt to divert police resources.
But then hundreds of protesters hiding behind umbrellas and yellow plastic barriers started to push up Jordan Road, just a few hundred meters (about 500-1,000 feet) away from the Polytechnic University campus.
Police fired tear gas and bean bag rounds from the Gascoigne Road flyover onto protesters, who were trying to push on up to the flyover. Protesters threw petrol bombs up at police, causing small fires on the road. Riot vans then moved in, their sirens blaring, and protesters ran.
The clash was over within minutes, with some bystanders hanging around watching the fray. The roads are now left covered in broken bricks and closed to traffic. Police are continuing to clear parts of Jordan Road to let their vans drive through, and protesters have once again retreated further into Tsim Sha Tsui.
This is what it's like inside PolyU right now
While the majority of protesters have left the Polytechnic University (PolyU) campus, a large number are still there, either determined to hold on or trapped by police, who have conducted mass arrests and fired tear gas on streets around the campus.
The mood inside the campus is very somber, said freelance photojournalist Aidan Marzo, who has been there since Sunday.
"People are running short of water and food, to the extent that they're having to be aware of resources they're using," he told CNN. "People here are almost accepting of the fact that the fight here is almost over, they're laying down ... it's a pretty somber mood."
Marzo said that many protesters left around 8 a.m. this morning after word went around that university officials had negotiated a ceasefire with police. Many were trapped, however, after police attacked those streaming from the campus.
"When they did leave, or tried to, police kept firing round after round of tear gas and they were forced to retreat back into the university," he said. It's unclear whether any ceasefire was actually agreed, or if it might have been a negotiated surrender for students to leave peacefully but still face arrest.
"There's been a lot of miscommunication in the last 24 hours on how, or if people can leave, it's been quite difficult for protesters, and even the press, to know what to do," Marzo added.
A night of violence: While many protesters are taking advantage of the current lull to catch up on some rest, Marzo described the intense fighting that went on throughout the night, with determined protesters defying multiple police advances, tear gas and water cannon.
"A lot of these kids, they would get hit by the water cannon, medics would carry them away, they would get washed down, new clothes and go back to the front lines," he said, adding that even though many feel defeated today, they likely will not go down without a fight.
"Their hatred of the police way outweighs their lack of spirit," Marzo said. "(PolyU) is an urban maze, a lot of basement, ground level rooms, and bridges and overpasses. It's not large in terms of surface area, (but) it will be quite complicated for police to clear it."
Police urge protesters to "drop their weapons" and leave the university
The Hong Kong police said on Twitter they had fired tear gas because protesters in the Hong Kong Polytechnic University had "ignored" repeated warnings and charged at police with petrol bombs.
The police called tear gas "the minimum force necessary," and urged the protesters to drop their weapons and leave the university "in an orderly manner."
After repeated warnings were ignored, Police officers dispersed the rioters with tear gas, the minimum force necessary. The rioters are hereby warned to stop their unlawful acts.
See Hong Kong Police Force's other Tweets
To ensure public safety, the Police appeal to everyone inside the Polytechnic University to drop their weapons and dangerous items, remove their gas masks and leave via the top level of Cheong Wan Road South Bridge in an orderly manner.
They should follow police instructions and must not charge at police cordons.
See Hong Kong Police Force's other Tweets
What do Hong Kong's protesters want?
It's been almost six months now since protests began in Hong Kong -- and since then the movement has dramatically broadened.
The protests began in June with one main objective -- for the government to withdraw a controversial bill that would have allowed extradition of fugitives to mainland China.
Critics worried Beijing could use the bill to prosecute people for political reasons under China's opaque legal system.
But when the government only suspended the bill and didn't withdraw it, the focus of the movement expanded to allegations of police brutality and calls for greater democracy.
The current five demands of the Hong Kong protest movement are:
- Fully withdraw the extradition bill (fulfilled in September)
- Set up an independent inquiry to probe police brutality
- Withdraw a characterization of early protests as "riots"
- Release those arrested at protests
- Implement universal suffrage in Hong Kong
Police have fired tear gas in Kowloon
Police have begun firing tear gas in Kowloon, where protesters are trying to draw police numbers away from the Polytechnic University.
Dozens of protesters on Jordan Road, Nathan Road, and several nearby streets have been prying up bricks from the road and scattering them around in an attempt to divert police resources from the university -- where a standoff between police and protesters is now entering its second day.
Several protesters have thrown bricks and petrol bombs at riot police, who are standing at the Gascoigne Road flyover. Police just fired tear gas in response toward Jordan Road.
Meanwhile, students and protesters remain barricaded inside the Polytechnic University, despite police orders for them to leave. Riot police are manning all roads in and out of campus, which appears on lockdown.
Here's what Kowloon looks like right now
Nathan Road, the main thoroughfare in Hong Kong's Kowloon district, is usually full of cars and pedestrians. Right now, it's full of protesters wearing face masks and dressed in black, covering the ground with detritus.
There are bricks scattered all over the road, as well as bamboo scaffolding. Some makeshift barricades are a little more creative -- ladders, tables, umbrellas, fences, phone boxes.
Take a look at the scene:
Protesters are using a phone box as a road barricade
Nearly the entire stretch of Nathan Road, which runs through multiple districts in Kowloon, is covered with debris, bamboo scaffolding, bricks, and other objects used as makeshift barricades.
In Yau Ma Tei, which lies between Mong Kok and Tsim Sha Tsui districts, protesters have even toppled a phone booth into the middle of the road in an attempt to halt traffic.
Walking through the streets, you can hear the echo of smashing bricks from protesters further down Nathan Road. One protester told CNN they’re blocking the roads in case police arrive.
This is all part of an attempt to draw police toward Nathan Road, away from Polytechnic University, where students remain barricaded inside despite some attempts to leave this morning.
Here's where we are at 11 a.m. in Hong Kong
The siege of the heavily fortified Hong Kong Polytechnic University campus has now entered its second day, with large numbers of riot police locked in a tense and occasionally violent standoff with student protesters.
Here's where we're at this morning:
- Riot police have encircled Hong Kong Kong's Polytechnic University and are trying to arrest the hundreds of protesters who have been occupying it for days.
- Dozens of demonstrators fled the campus during a lull this morning, at least several of whom were arrested by waiting police, who fired tear gas.
- Many of those still inside the campus say they want to leave but are unable to without running into police.
- There is still no confirmation on the number of injured from the continued siege or the number of arrests.
- To try and distract riot police, hundreds of additional demonstrators are digging up roads and making barricades across the city's Kowloon Peninsula, north of the university.
- The level of violence in Hong Kong's almost six months of protests has ratcheted up in the past week, with protesters experimenting with a variety of homemade explosives and improvised weapons.
Protesters are trying to create a diversion to draw police away from the university
Protesters and protest supporters in Kowloon's Tsim Sha Tsui district are building bamboo barricades on Nathan Road, a main thoroughfare that is usually packed with traffic.
Many tell CNN they are doing it as a diversionary tactic -- to draw police away from the Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU), where police and protesters remain locked in a tense, hours-long standoff. Many of the protesters have been attempting to escape the fortified campus all morning, but many are being arrested by police, who have surrounded the area.
One 29-year-old female student laying barricades told CNN that the protesters are PolyU are "lacking resources now, food and water.”
Police have ordered students to leave the campus -- but there's only one exit, she said. "People getting out from that exit will be arrested."
Two 17-year-old girls say they are also pulling bamboo scaffolding onto the road to cause a disruption and draw the police away.
“We just want to save the students in PolyU,” one said. “When we grow up we will be the ones who can change Hong Kong so we don't (want) our next generation to suffer."
Exhausted protesters rest inside fortified Polytechnic University
Hong Kong protesters have now been under siege inside Polytechnic University for 24 hours, as the police try to clear the campus and reopen nearby roads.
Violent clashes raged all through the night and now the shrinking group of remaining protesters are trying to catch some brief respite inside the fortified campus.
Photos from inside the walls of Polytechnic University show black-clad, mostly young protesters resting against walls and on benches, still in their full protective gear.
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