HONG KONG (AP) – Protesters in Hong Kong ended their overnight siege of police headquarters peacefully Saturday, disappointed that their demands for the territory’s leader to formally withdraw a contentious extradition bill and police to apologize for heavy handed tactics have gone unmet.
By daybreak, police had cleared the streets of barriers set up by protesters to snarl traffic in the Asian financial center, and only a few groups in the mostly youthful crowd remained. Many slept outside the legislature.
Traffic was again smooth on a major thoroughfare through the government’s central complex as the protest movement regrouped to consider next moves.
Police said nine female and four male staffers were hospitalized “with considerable delay” during the blockade. The police statement did not say whether they were injured in clashes or had otherwise become unwell.
Around police headquarters, masked and helmeted protesters covered surveillance cameras with masking tape and lashed barriers together with nylon cable ties. They threw eggs at the building and drew graffiti on the walls. Protesters also “splashed oil” and targeted police officers’ eyes with laser pointers, according to the police.