últimas notícias

“The police were out of control,” said Crystal Yip, a 20-year-old college student who was in the station when officers arrived. “They were crazy and they were mad. They were trying to express their anger by attacking people randomly.”

Yolanda Yu, police senior superintendent, said 40 people were arrested in the station on suspicion of unlawful assembly, criminal damages and obstructing officers.

“Protesters used sticks and hard objects to attack police. We used the same level of force to respond to the situation,” Ms. Yu said, replying to a reporter asking why the police had used pepper spray on commuters who were kneeling on the ground.

She said that the police had warned civilians to stay away. “Under chaotic situations, it is indeed hard to determine whether someone is a real journalist, a protester or a violent person,” she said.

The violence in Prince Edward Station began during a dispute between protesters and some older men who were insulting them. One of the men swung a hammer at the protesters, who threw water bottles and umbrellas and later appeared to set off fire extinguishers in the car. After the clashes, the subway system suspended service across much of Hong Kong. Three stations remained closed on Sunday.

The subway operator, MTR, has been a target of vandalism since it began suspending service last month to stations in places near where protests are planned. It continued that pattern on Saturday, stopping service at Sai Ying Pun Station, near the Chinese government liaison office, a site of some protests.

In the wake of the clashes, Chinese news outlets run by the Communist Party urged the Hong Kong government to take tough steps against the protesters and cited experts urging Carrie Lam, the chief executive of the city, to invoke emergency powers. An online outlet controlled by the Communist Party’s law-and-order committee said the Hong Kong protesters were using “terrorist methods.”