The demonstrators "are
not afraid of anything," said Lo Cheong, 62, who is one of them. "Ask
them if they're afraid of bullets. They're not. This is our last chance.
We know we're most likely going to fail, but we have to try."
Retaking Lung Wo road was necessary "to protect the protesters," said a demonstrator named Bon.
The crowds reoccupied the
road late Tuesday after battles with police who tried to block them.
Authorities deployed a team of riot police with masks, batons, and
pepper spray. Police ran through a tunnel to reach the protesters. But
the protesters managed to flank the police, surrounding them inside the
tunnel.
CNN saw some protesters
hit by batons and shoved by police, and at least one person pepper
sprayed. The demonstrators defended themselves with rows of umbrellas.
After a 30-minute standoff, police were forced to retreat -- leaving protesters cheering loudly and pumping fists into the air.
The protesters then set up new barricades to keep the road.
Earlier, police had
dismantled the barricades, cutting ties used to bind together metal
fences, signs, wooden pallets and recycling boxes blocking traffic
through Admiralty, a main thoroughfare in Hong Kong.
There was no sign of resistance as officers loaded the barricades onto waiting trucks.
Pro-democracy
campaigners have camped out in the area for more than two weeks as they
push the government to change the way elections will be run in 2017.
On Monday, scuffles
broke out as a group of protest opponents rushed the site and tried to
pull down the barricades. They could be heard yelling at protesters,
accusing them of damaging their livelihoods.
Police intervened by forming a human chain to keep the two sides apart. Eventually the protest opponents retreated.
Source:CNN
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