Protesters arrested for entering HK Legislative Council Building by force

HONG KONG - A total of 13 protesters were arrested for obstruction and assault in Hong Kong for trying to enter the Legislative Council (LegCo) Building by force, said the Hong Kong's Police on Saturday.

Protesters gathered on Friday at Hong Kong's government headquarters in a rally against plans for a new town development in the northeastern New Territories.

Hong Kong's local television footage showed that some protesters were pushing over barricades and surging towards an entrance to the Legislative Council. A glass door and a fire escape door were damaged in the altercation, and police fended off protesters with pepper spray.

Some protesters pushed the mills barriers and attempted to enter the LegCo Complex through different doors by force, endangering their own safety and the safety of other people, said the Police.

Police said the protesters ignored police appeals and warnings, causing injuries to officers and security staff, and damaged the building. "To control the situation, Police had to use pepper spray to stop protesters from entering the building and defend against attack."

During the operation, Police arrested thirteen people, twelve males and one female, aged between 19 and 39, for offenses including "obstructing officer of the Council while in the execution of his duty", "obstructing police officer" and "assaulting police officer."

A government spokesman on Saturday said that the violence occurred outside the LegCo Complex was totally unacceptable and strongly condemned the violent acts of the protesters.

"Hong Kong is a law-abiding society. We cannot tolerate any violence. The Police are now conducting a full investigation into the incident and the persons involved will be held criminally responsible," the spokesman added.

Jasper Tsang, President of the Legislative Council, condemned the protest. "We feel very regretful that some people disrupted the committee meeting of the Legislative Council through such means," he told reporters on Saturday.

Police earlier arrested another eight men, aged 20 to 72, for similar offenses.