Hong Kong police arrest 116 at protest site

Protesters use shields against policemen at an occupied area in Mong Kok district of Hong Kong Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2014. An attempt by Hong Kong authorities to clear a 2-month-old pro-democracy protest camp in Mong Kok district spiraled into chaos Tuesday as hundreds more protesters flooded the crowded neighborhood, a flashpoint for earlier violent clashes with police and angry mobs. AP

HONG KONG — Hong Kong authorities cleared street barricades from a pro-democracy protest camp in the volatile Mong Kok district for a second day Wednesday after a night of clashes in which police arrested 116 people.

Workers wearing red baseball caps and T-shirts that that said “I (heart) HK” started dismantling barricades made of wooden pallets and other materials after bailiffs issued a warning to the crowd that they would start enforcing the court-ordered clearance.

Hundreds of police officers, many wearing helmets, observed the operation along with many journalists. Local media reports said 4,000 officers were on hand to enforce the court injunction granted to taxi drivers to remove obstructions from Nathan Road, a busy artery in Kowloon.

Police said that people were arrested for offences including unlawful assembly and assaulting or obstructing police. One man was arrested for possessing offensive weapons including an axe, hammer and crowbar. Nine officers were hurt in the scuffles.

Protesters have been camped out on major thoroughfares since Sept. 28 demanding greater democracy in the semiautonomous Chinese city. The standoff has continued with no end in sight as neither the government nor the student-led protesters have shown any willingness to compromise.

The demonstrators demand that Hong Kong’s government scrap a plan mandated by China’s communist leaders to use a panel of Beijing-friendly elites to screen candidates for top leader in inaugural 2017 elections.

The chaotic scenes overnight underscored the challenge Hong Kong authorities face in trying to shut down the protest site in gritty, working-class Mong Kok. It’s home to a more unruly and aggressive crowd compared with the main protest site next to government headquarters, where protesters last week put up little resistance to a separate court order to remove a handful of barricades.

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