Circumstances are unclear but residents demand the police to take action
Darin Tso
The sign says the name of the student who fell (Chow Tsz-lok, also known as Alex Chow)
Chow Tsz-lok, also known as Alex Chow, 22, was found with serious head injuries five days ago, in a car park near the scene of a street battle between police and anti-government demonstrators, and had been in a coma since.
Police earlier told reporters that Chow fell from the third to the second story of the car park. Officers were in the car park at the time, but the police deny that Chow was pushed or that they were pursuing him.
Although the circumstances remain unclear, the computer science undergraduate is nonetheless regarded as having died as a result of injuries sustained during a demonstration—potentially the first such case in five months of increasingly violent unrest.
Within hours of his death on Friday morning, crowds of office workers began gathering in the financial district, occupying main thoroughfares and chanting “Hongkongers, take revenge!” Calls for protesters to take “blood for blood” circulated online.
A government spokesperson said the administration “expressed great sorrow and regret” over the death of Chow and had extended sympathies to his family. The spokesperson added that the police were “conducting a comprehensive investigation”.
Police have said that the location where Chow fell was about 130 yards from where they were conducting a dispersal of protesters, using teargas, rubber bullets, and beanbag rounds as well as one sponge grenade. The police have denied allegations that they blocked emergency responders from reaching Chow.
In a “citizen’s press conference” held by protesters following the news of Chow’s death, demonstrators said: “In this tragic moment, we plead to all to bear in heart and mind who the real culprits behind Tsz-lok’s death were. His fall was not an unfortunate accident. It was an intentional manslaughter executed by tyranny and the police force.”
Hong Kong is facing its worst political crisis in decades as hundreds of thousands of residents, many of them students and young people have taken to the streets since June to press for greater democracy, among other demands.
The protests, ignited by a now-scrapped extradition bill for people to be sent to mainland China for trial, have evolved into wider calls for democracy, posing the biggest challenge for Chinese president, Xi Jinping, since he took charge in 2012.
Protesters observe a moment of silence for Chow at Chater Garden in Central on Nov. 8.
Chow, 22, was a second year computer science undergraduate at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, according to the South China Morning Post newspaper, which reported the death earlier Friday. University President Wei Shyy briefly paused the school’s graduation ceremony to announce Chow’s death and observe a moment of silence.
The death comes after five months of historic unrest in the region’s main financial hub. Sparked by a since-withdrawn bill that would have allowed extraditions to mainland China, the protest movement expanded to include calls for greater democracy, morphing into the biggest challenge to Beijing’s rule over the former colony since its return to China in 1997.
Hong Kong’s government said it was “deeply saddened” and offered condolences to Chow’s family in a statement responding to media inquiries about his death.
‘Freedom Fighter’
Prominent activist Joshua Wong mourned Chow’s death and called him a “freedom fighter.”
“Today we mourn the loss of the freedom fighter in HK. We will not leave anyone behind - what we start together, we finish together. Given the losses suffered by HK society in the past month, the gov must pay the price,” he tweeted.
“ Violent protesting is not ok, my fellow discipuli! Peace protesting, my bros!” commented Steven Liu, Class IV. Steven is Strongly against violent protesting.
Mohamed Ali, Class IV, has the same viewpoint. “Protesting is ok, but the method they’re using is wrong. Peaceful all the way.”
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