Video footage was uploaded online, showing the Hong Kong police tackling down a 12-year-old girl during a street protest recently.
The Hong Kong police have since been under fire, per BBC, following the release of the footage. The event happened during a pro-democracy protest on Sunday afternoon.
As it turns out, the young teen wasn’t even part of the protest. Yet she was ordered to pay $2,000 Hong Kong dollars [AU$353.69] as fine. Per CNN, the child was issued a penalty ticket for violating “the city’s ban on gatherings of more than two people.”
The incident with the Hong Kong police
Based on the video, two Hong Kong police officers approached the teen, who local media calls as “Pamela,” to protect her and her family’s identities. She was told to stand still by the said police.
However, the girl started running after being tapped with the police’s baton. The other police went around to meet the running girl and tacked her to the ground.
Pamela’s brother was also restrained by the riot police after he tried helping her on the ground.
Per CNN, the Hong Kong police defended their action, emphasizing they used “minimum necessary force.”
According to the statement quoted by the news outlet:
“During the interaction, she suddenly ran away in a suspicious manner. Officers, therefore, chased and subdued her with the use of minimum necessary force.”
#HongKong shocked by violent #HongKongPolice arrest of 12-year-old girl https://t.co/UcKiXBcf45
— Iain Duncan Smith MP (@MPIainDS) September 7, 2020
The teen wasn’t even part of the protest
According to Pamela as she spoke with i-Cable news—a local media outlet, she and her brother were out to buy art supplies for school.
The reason for the teen to run was because she panicked and got scared.
Pamela expressed:
“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.”
Per her brother’s statement,” there was no reason for the police to come after us” as they were only just walking by.
According to BBC, they are intending to contest the penalty ticket issued to them. Technically speaking, they were not part of the protest, so no social distancing rules were violated.
Meanwhile, the mother of the child, identified as “Mrs. Ho” spoke with RTHK‘s radio show, CNN reports. She described that the police were clearly shouting loudly at her teen daughter.
She told RTHK that “it was apparent that my daughter was scared.”
“The question is, is it really necessary for another riot police officer bump into her and push her to the ground from another direction? And use his knee to hold her on the ground. I think it is not necessary. I was heartbroken when I watched the video again.”
Both Pamela and his brother were reportedly brought to the hospital to treat their light injuries.
Hong Kong police arrest 289 at protests over election delay
https://t.co/TTNPQQiY1c— The Mainichi (Japan Daily News) (@themainichi) September 7, 2020
Based on the video, the streets were filled with so many people. Reports confirm that almost 300 people were arrested on that day alone.
Featured image courtesy of Chromatograph/Unsplash