Hundreds of protesters blocked Hong Kong’s police headquarters Friday evening, demanding authorities apologize for the treatment of protesters during a demonstration earlier this month.
The Associated Press reported that more than 1,000 protesters turned out late Friday to urge police officers in the city to apologize for the use of rubber bullets and tear gas against thousands of protesters on June 12.
{mosads}“We … urge police to apologize to the people,” activist Joshua Wong told the AP.
“I myself am not the type to get involved in violence,” another activist, Brian Chow, told the news service. “I’ll just carry on sitting here, sing some Christian hymns, show our resistance, and keep the government paralyzed until it responds to us.”
More than 1 million demonstrators swarmed city streets earlier this month to protest a bill being considered by Hong Kong’s legislature that would allow its citizens to be extradited to mainland China for criminal trials. On Friday, the province’s leaders missed a deadline to respond to protesters’ demands on the bill, which has been suspended but not withdrawn entirely.
A spokesperson for Hong Kong’s police force urged protesters to return to their homes on Friday.
“I now appeal to the members of the public to leave as soon as possible,” Yolanda Yu said, according to the AP.
Amnesty International’s Hong Kong office urged police to end what it called the “unlawful” use of force against protesters in a statement.
“The Hong Kong authorities should send a clear message that these failures in policing will not be tolerated. A thorough, independent and effective investigation needs to take place and any officers found responsible must face justice, at any level of the chain of command,” the rights group said.