Tensions in Hong Kong ramped up on Saturday between pro-democracy protesters and those opposed to the weeklong demonstration.
Although the student-led protests have remained mostly non-violent, police arrested 19 people involved in fights over the past couple of days in which at least 12 people and six officers were injured, according to news reports.
{mosads}Eight men were thought to have links to organized crime, according to Senior Superintendent Patrick Kwok Pak-chung.
Some protesters have accused the police of teaming up with gangs to help them clear the streets, an allegation that has been strongly denied by city officials.
“Such rumors linking us to ‘black societies,’ are utterly unfair,” Hong Kong’s security chief Lai Tung-kwok, told reporters.
The marches were spurred by China’s decision to appoint a group of heavily pro-Beijing leaning people to head up a committee to screen candidates for the city’s first-ever election of its top leader, which is set for 2017.
The protesters, whose demonstrations have closed off major streets in the city’s blue-collar Mong Kok district, took to shouting insults at those who are opposed to their stance.
Shouts of “Go back to the mainland,” were heard on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Chief Secretary Leung Chun-ying, the city’s leader, went on television and urged everyone to go home to have the streets cleared and back to normal by Monday.
Amid the clashes, talks about possible government reforms between protesters and the government have been postponed, creating uncertainty about a way forward for ending the demonstrations.
The protesters have called for Leung’s resignation.
Opponents are wearing blue ribbons to signal their support for the mainland Chinese government, while the protesters have donned yellow ribbons.