This photographic essay documents the opening tense hours of the June 12th standoff between aggressive Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) police and peaceful anti-Extradition Law Amendment Bill (ELAB) occupiers outside of the SAR government complex in Admiralty, adjacent to the People’s Liberation Army Hong Kong Garrison Central Barracks. Ant-ELAB occupiers hoped to interrupt the second reading of the proposed ELAB that would permit the transfer of Hongkongers and other visitors to the city to Communist China for violations of Chinese law committed anywhere, anytime by anyone. Following more a standoff of more than six hours, by mid-afternoon the Tim Wa Avenue site would be one of several surrounding the SAR government complex engulfed by unprecedented police on protester violence. This was a development that ultimately gave impetus to the Water Revolution and Hongkongers’ Five Demands calling for, in part, an independent investigation into police brutality.
The Extradition Law Shall Not Pass
On the morning of June 12th, tens of thousands of Hongkongers rushed to occupy streets in Admiralty surrounding the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government complex and Legislative Council building to interrupt the second reading of a proposed Extradition Law Amendment Bill (ELAB) allowing the transfer of Hongkongers and other visitors to the city to Communist China for violations of Chinese law committed anywhere, anytime by anyone. The direct action followed a million-plus person march on 9 June calling for the withdrawal of the ELAB by SAR authorities just days earlier. Police mills barriers frequently used to kettle pro-democracy protesters are repurposed here by protesters to block streets and entrances to the SAR government complex.
Loaded for Protester Bears
Hong Kong police equipped with red-nozzle, pressurized oleoresin capsicum (OC) pepper spray manpacks, less lethal weaponry, and light riot gear assume an aggressive formation while massing on Tim Wa Avenue in Admiralty between the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government complex and the People’s Liberation Army Hong Kong Garrison Central Barracks on the morning of June 12th as Hongkongers opposed to the proposed Extradition Law Amendment Bill (ELAB) and hoping to interrupt its second reading occupy streets surround the complex. At the time the police adopted this posture, anti-ELAB protesters were several tens-of-yards away and had not made any threatening gestures. Hours later, in mid-afternoon the site would be one of several engulfed by unprecedented police on protester violence which, ultimately, gave birth to the Water Revolution and Hongkongers’ Five Demands calling for, in part, an investigation into police brutality.
One Step Closer ...
Standing between rows of two-meter long riots shields on the morning of June 12th, a Hong Kong police officer holds a specialized long distance pressurized oleoresin capsicum (OC) pepper sprayer while on the police line on Tim Wa Avenue, Admiralty, between the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government complex and the People’s Liberation Army Central Barracks.
Make My Day, Please …
A Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) specialized riot control paramilitary officer, known as the Special Tactical Squad – or by their nickname “Raptors” – toys with a red-nozzle long-distance pressurized oleoresin capsicum (OC) pepper spray gun on the morning of June 12th while repeatedly taunting anti-Extradition Law Amendment Bill (ELAB) demonstrators and journalists occupying streets adjacent to the SAR governmental complex and People’s Liberation Army Hong Kong Garrison Central Barracks on Tim Wa Avenue. On various occasions, the officer stepped out from between the riot shields to beckon occupiers to advance to provoke a police response.
War drums …
An ill-tempered Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) police officer outfitted with baton, helmet and riot shield restively bangs his weapon against a police riot barricade set-up on Tim Wa Avenue located SAR government complex and the People’s Liberation Army Hong Kong Garrison Central Barracks during the morning of June 12th.
Not the Expats You Were Looking for …
On the morning of June 12th, foreign expat Hong Kong senior police officer directs subordinate to target anti-Extradition Law Amendment Bill (ELAB) demonstrators with handheld pepper spray while situated on Tim Wa Avenue between the Special Administrative Region Government complex and the People’s Liberation Army Hong Kong Garrison Central Barracks. Paramilitary Special Tactical Squad officers – aka Raptors – and officers lightly kitted in riot gear flank the ranking cop. Early in what would develop into an hours-long stand-off between ELAB occupiers and the police, the non-aggressive demonstrators were located several dozen yards away from the police riot line. By mid-afternoon, however, the site would be engulfed in unprecedented police on protester violence which led to the emergence of the Water Revolution and Hongkongers’ Five Demands that called for, in part, an independent investigation of police brutality and lawlessness.
No Extradition to China
A young anti-Extradition Law Amendment Bill (ELAB) demonstrator kitted out with what would soon become icons of the 2019 Water Revolution Hong Kong protesters – gas masks, gloves, hard hats and umbrellas – poses on the morning of June 12th in front of police riot lines on Tim Wa Avenue located between the Special Administrative Region Government complex and the People’s Liberation Army Hong Kong Garrison Central Barracks.
We Are Hongkongers ...
Early in an hours-long standoff with Hong Kong police on the morning of June 12th, umbrella-equipped anti-Extradition Law Amendment Bill (ELAB) demonstrators peacefully occupy the intersection of Tim Wa Avenue and Harcourt Road outside and between the Special Administrative Region Government (SAR) complex and the People’s Liberation Army Hong Kong Garrison Central Barracks. Starring at a police riot line heavily armed with lethal and less-than-lethal weapons and paramilitary riot cops, anti-ELAB protesters sought to interrupt the second reading of the proposed ELAB that, once passed, would allow for the unprecedented transfer of Hongkongers (and other visitors) from the city to Communist China for violations of Chinese law committed anywhere, anytime by anyone. Using goggles, masks and umbrellas to defend themselves from police pepper spray and tear gas, by mid-afternoon SAR security forces moved to violently disperse the occupiers thereby initiating 2019’s historic Water Revolution.
Umbrellas Up!
Anti-Extradition Law Amendment Bill (ELAB) demonstrators at the intersection of Tim Wa Avenue and Harcourt Road in Admiralty, adjacent to the Special Administrative Region Government (SAR) complex and the People’s Liberation Army Hong Kong Garrison Central Barracks, open their umbrellas on the morning of June 12th as police threaten to pepper spray and tear gas them if they didn’t disperse.
Umbrella Meets Water Revolution ...
During mid-morning on June 12th, anti-Extradition Law Amendment Bill (ELAB) demonstrators at the intersection of Tim Wa Avenue and Harcourt Road in Admiralty, adjacent to the Special Administrative Region Government (SAR) complex and the People’s Liberation Army Hong Kong Garrison Central Barracks, open their umbrellas as police repeatedly threaten to pepper spray and tear gas them if they didn’t disperse. Many anti-ELAB occupiers, media and observers look down on the hours-long ground-level stand-off between police and occupiers. The same location was the same site of several confrontations in 2014 during the 79-day occupation of Admiralty during the Umbrella Revolution.
