Hong Kong police said on Monday that they had arrested 325 people over illegal and violent acts between Nov. 1 and Nov. 3, while 12 police officers were injured during the operations.
Senior Superintendent of the Police Public Relations Branch (PPRB) Kong Wing-cheung said in a live broadcast on the internet that 247 males and 78 females, aged between 14 and 54, had been arrested for unlawful assembly, possession of instruments fit for an unlawful purpose, criminal damage, using face covering at unlawful assemblies, possession of prohibited weapon, and possession of firearms and ammunition without a licence.
Kong said that more than 180 incendiary bombs, some incendiary fluids, telescopic batons, pepper spray, helmets and gas masks were seized in a residential unit in Wan Chai, Hong Kong Island on Saturday, when five people were arrested. The case was brought to the court on Monday.
A police press conference scheduled for 4 p.m. local time on Monday was canceled after six journalists staged a demonstration inside the media briefing room at the police headquarters.
Chief Superintendent of the PPRB Tse Chun-chung said that it was very regrettable that some journalists did not respect the press conference and deprived other journalists of their rights to cover news and the public of their rights to receive important information from the police. Therefore, the police broadcast the information to the public via a live broadcast on social media platforms.
Tse said that over the past weekend, violence and vandalism continued in Hong Kong, in which a news organization being vandalized and set on fire by masked rioters who tried to use violence to suppress press freedom.
He added that Hong Kong has been plagued by violence in the past few months, and every week, there were people beaten by masked rioters. Up to now, 85 metro stations had been damaged, 460 sets of traffic lights out of order, and more than 40,000 meters of iron railing were torn down.
"If the violence continues to be rationalized and glorified, it will only ruin Hong Kong," he stressed.
According to Hong Kong Fire Services Department, 52 fires were recorded related to demonstrations and gatherings, including some metro stations and Xinhua News Agency in Wan Chai.
