Hong Kong descends into chaos as protesters defy rally ban

&Tab;&Tab;<div class&equals;"wpcnt">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<div class&equals;"wpa">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<span class&equals;"wpa-about">Advertisements<&sol;span>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<div class&equals;"u top&lowbar;amp">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<amp-ad width&equals;"300" height&equals;"265"&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab; type&equals;"pubmine"&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab; data-siteid&equals;"111265417"&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab; data-section&equals;"2">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;amp-ad>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;div>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;div>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;div><p>Hong Kong streets descended into chaotic scenes following an unauthorised pro-democracy rally on Sunday&comma; as protesters set up roadblocks and torched businesses&comma; and police responded with tear gas and a water cannon&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Protesters threw firebombs and took their anger out on shops with mainland Chinese ties as they skirmished late into the evening with riot police&comma; who unleashed numerous tear gas rounds on short notice&comma; angering residents and passers-by&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Police had beefed up security measures before the rally&comma; for which they refused to give permission&comma; the latest chapter in the unrest that has disrupted life since early June&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Twenty-four people were hurt and treated at hospitals&comma; including six with serious injuries&comma; the Hospital Authority said&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Police did not give an arrest figure&period; One person was seen being handcuffed and taken away to a police van&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>As the rally march set off&comma; protest leaders carried a black banner that read&comma; <em>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Five main demands&comma; not one less&comma;”<&sol;em> as they pressed their calls for police accountability and political rights in the semi-autonomous Chinese territory&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Supporters sang the protest movement’s anthem&comma; waved colonial and US flags&comma; and held up placards depicting the Chinese flag as a Nazi swastika&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Many protesters wore masks in defiance of a recently introduced ban on face coverings at public gatherings&comma; and volunteers handed more out to the crowd&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Matthew Lee&comma; a university student&comma; said he was determined to keep protesting even after more than four months&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;I can see some people want to give up&comma; but I don’t want to do this because Hong Kong is my home&comma; we want to protect this place&comma; protect Hong Kong&comma;”<&sol;em> he said&period; <em>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;You can’t give up because Hong Kong is your home&period;”<&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Some front-line protesters barricaded streets at multiple locations in Kowloon&comma; where the city’s subway operator restricted passenger access&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>They tore up stones from the sidewalk and scattered them on the road&comma; commandeered plastic safety barriers and unscrewed metal railings to form makeshift roadblocks&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>A water cannon truck and armoured car led a column of dozens of police vans up and down Nathan Road&comma; a major artery lined with shops&comma; to spray a stinging blue-dyed liquid as police moved to clear the road of protesters and barricades&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>At one point&comma; the water cannon sprayed a handful of people standing outside a mosque&period; Local broadcaster RTHK reported that the people hit were guarding the mosque and few protesters were nearby&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The Hong Kong police force said it was an &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;unintended impact” of its operation to disperse protesters and later sent a representative to meet the mosque’s imam&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>As night fell&comma; protesters returned to the streets&comma; setting trash on fire at intersections&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Residents jeered riot police&comma; cursing at them and telling them to leave&period; The officers&comma; in turn&comma; warned people that they were part of an illegal assembly and told them to leave&comma; and unleashed tear gas to disperse the crowds&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Along the way&comma; protesters trashed discount grocery shops and a restaurant chain because of what they say is the pro-Beijing ownership of the companies&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>They also set fire to ATMs and branches of mainland Chinese banks&comma; setting off sprinklers in at least two&comma; as well as a shop selling products from Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The protest movement sprang out of opposition to a government proposal for an extradition bill that would have sent suspects to mainland China to stand trial&comma; and then ballooned into broader demands for full democracy and an inquiry into alleged police brutality&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<div style&equals;"padding-bottom&colon;15px&semi;" class&equals;"wordads-tag" data-slot-type&equals;"belowpost">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<div id&equals;"atatags-dynamic-belowpost-68edba1c5385a">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<script type&equals;"text&sol;javascript">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;window&period;getAdSnippetCallback &equals; 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