Pro-democracy Hong Kong lawmakers interrupt leader’s speech

Demonstrators interrupted a speech by Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam Wednesday to call for her resignation, forcing the embattled leader to deliver the full address by video later, according to The Associated Press.

The protesters, calling Lam “mother of the Mafia police,” twice forced her to stop in her delivery of an annual speech outlining her policy objectives. In addition to the shouts, protesters waved placards and used a projector to illuminate their demands against Lam’s face and the wall behind her, according to the AP.

{mosads}Lam initially left and returned 20 minutes later to attempt to deliver the speech, but was interrupted yet again by a lawmaker who climbed onto a desk brandishing a placard. Another legislator wearing a mask of Chinese President Xi Jinping also threw a placard as Lam exited, according to the news service.

Lam delivered the speech through a video link about an hour and 15 minutes after its scheduled start time, during which she addressed the ongoing protests in the city, saying, “People are asking: Will Hong Kong return to normal?”

Lam went on to call for the city to return to peace, saying “continued violence and spread of hatred will erode the core values of Hong Kong.” Although she directly addressed the protests, her address was largely focused on infrastructure issues such as affordable housing, land development and the building of tunnels, according to the AP.

Lam’s resignation is one of the primary demands of the protesters, as well as direct election of leaders and an independent investigation into police brutality against demonstrators.

Demonstrations were initially sparked by a bill that would allow extradition of some Hong Kong residents to China, which Lam has since formally pulled. Protesters see this legislation as emblematic of a broader erosion of the city’s autonomy from Beijing.