In October 2019, the 2019–2020 Hong Kong protests saw a further escalation of violence. It became evident that the protests were unlikely to end soon, and that they posed the biggest popular challenge to Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leader Xi Jinping since his ascension to CCP general secretary in 2012. To bring the situation under control, Chief Executive Carrie Lam invoked colonial-era powers to impose an anti-mask law, aimed at preventing protesters from hiding their identity. Observers considered the law, which came into force on 4 October, as a precedent for possible wider use of emergency powers at the expense of citizens' freedoms and in addition democratic rights, as they even saw the possibility of the upcoming District Council elections being cancelled based on the emergency law. The mask ban did, however, not achieve the desired effect, but rather proved a further focal point of protests. In November, the High Court ruled the mask ban to be unconstitutional, although in April 2020, an Appeal Court ruled that it was constitutional in the case of unlawful assemblies.
The month began with major protests in several parts of the city on occasion of the Chinese National Day. On that day, for the first time in the protests, a protester was shot by police; he was critically injured in the torso, but survived. Police defended this use of potentially lethal force against accusations that it had been disproportionate. Another act of violence that stood out was the slashing of a police officer on 13 October. On 6 October, a taxi driver caused serious leg injuries to a woman when he drove into a crowd of protesters, an act which was seen by protesters as deliberate. On the same day, there was a first confrontation of protesters with the Chinese People's Liberation Army when protesters targeted their Kowloon Tong barracks with laser lights and were shown warnings from inside in response.
Events
1 October National Day protests On the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, Hong Kong protesters marked a "national day of mourning". In defiance of a police ban on the annual march that the Civil Human Rights Front (CHRF) had applied for, four veteran democrats led a rally from Causeway Bay to Central, mourning the victims of Chinese Communist Party rule and calling for the end of one-party rule in mainland China. Simultaneously, protesters held rallies in Wong Tai Sin, Tuen Mun, Tsuen Wan, Sha Tin and Sham Shui Po, which drew tens of thousands of participants altogether. The protests were initially peaceful, but violent incidents occurred later during the day. MTR stations and businesses that were thought to be associated with the mainland were vandalised.Officers had fired multiple warning shots in locations such as Yau Ma Tei and Wong Tai Sin. In Tsuen Wan, a police officer fired a live round at Tsang Chi-kin, an 18-year-old male secondary school student, to his chest at point blank range with a revolver. This incident happened as the man was assaulting the police officer who ran in to retrieve a fellow officer chased and beaten to the ground by a crowd of protesters. Before being shot, the student was holding a white pipe and a kickboard; when collecting evidence after the shooting, the police took away his mask, his helmet, his kickboard along with a metal rod found from nearby, but without his white pipe. It was the first live round fired at a person by the Hong Kong police in this series of protests. The protester was taken to the emergency room of Princess Margaret Hospital and in critical condition. The Hong Kong Police called the shooting "heartbreaking" and added that "[t]he police officers' lives were seriously threatened. To save his own and his colleagues' lives, [the officer] fired a live shot at the attacker." The Foreign Secretary of the United Kingdom Dominic Raab said that "the use of live ammunition is disproportionate". Human rights organisation Amnesty International urged "the Hong Kong authorities to urgently review their approach in policing the protests to de-escalate the situation and prevent more lives being put at risk" and reiterated its call for an independent investigation. Away from the city's protest scenes, the profane phrase "Celebrate His Mom" (「賀佢老母」) showed up in the form of a massive, black vertical protest banner on Devil's Peak. At the same time, Hong Kong citizens crowdfunded to buy whole-page newspaper advertisements on over nine newspapers in different countries to "showcase" this phrase globally. The countries included South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Norway, United Kingdom, Germany, Canada, Argentina, and Mexico.
On 28 January 2022, eleven of the protesters in Wong Tai Sin were found guilty of rioting while one was acquitted. On 1 April, three of the group were sentenced to a training centre, with judge Edmond Lee citing their young age and the brevity of their riot as mitigating factors. Tsang Chi-kin was sentenced on 18 October 2023 to 3.5 years in prison for rioting and assaulting a police officer, and to 11 months and two weeks for perverting the course of justice, after having pleaded guilty to all three charges the previous month. According to police, he and three others had hidden in safe houses for two years until their arrest in July 2022; Yip Ho and Ansen Wong were jailed for 20 and 10 months respectively for perverting the course of justice, with Ho having been accused of having helped to conceal the group. Seventeen-year-old Alex Wong was sentenced to a training centre for perverting the course of justice. Fung Ching-Wah, another of the four who had hidden, had been sentenced to four months in jail in September 2023 for rioting and perverting the course of justice.
2 October solidarity protests for the injured student
Protests continued after Tsang was shot by the police. The students and the alumni of his secondary school Tsuen Wan Public Ho Chuen Yiu Memorial College rallied outside the campus to show their support for Tsang, who was charged with rioting and assaulting officers while still in hospital. About 250 demonstrators gathered at West Kowloon Magistrates' Courts to support him and other protesters who were arrested.
In the afternoon, protesters and office workers gathered in Central, Hong Kong and briefly occupied Connaught Road Central. They shouted slogans to condemn the Hong Kong police, such as "Hong Kong police intentionally commit murder" and "disband the police force now". Protesters also showed up in Tsuen Wan, where they damaged a mahjong house said to have links to triad groups and started a fire near New Territories South Regional Police Headquarters. Protesters also briefly occupied roads and thoroughfares in Wong Tai Sin and Causeway Bay. In Tuen Mun, Tai Wai and Tseung Kwan O, protesters vandalised several MTR stations. Railway operator MTR Corporation became a target of vandalism after it was accused of cooperating with the police and closing its stations before major protests took place.
3 October protests against anti-mask law On 3 October, protesters gathered at 11 shopping malls throughout Hong Kong, including New Town Plaza, Yoho Mall and APM to protest against the anti-mask law. The gathering in Cityplaza near Tai Koo station escalated into intense conflicts between protesters and the police, which used tear gas and pepper spray to disperse protesters. At 10:20 pm, the MTR announced that it would close the Kwun Tong station, in response to which protesters nearby damaged its facilities. The MTR then announced the imminent closure of Tai Po Market station, Ngau Tau Kok station and Tai Koo station.
4–6 October protests against the emergency law
4 October After Carrie Lam invoked the controversial Emergency Regulations Ordinance to impose a law which bans the wearing of face masks in public gatherings, many protesters defied the new law and wore face masks to show their discontent. Protesters first showed up in Central, Hong Kong and chanted slogans, such as "Hong Kong people, resist". After the government announced the enactment of the law, which would be effective the following midnight, many universities cancelled their afternoon classes and many malls closed early. The protesters became more radical at night and showed up in various districts in Hong Kong. Protesters occupied Harcourt Road, Nathan Road, Lung Cheung Road and other major thoroughfares. They also damaged facilitates in several railway stations and Light Rail stations, causing the MTR to suspend all of its train services that day. Pro-Beijing shops and corporations thought to have ties to Mainland China, such as Bank of China and Maxim's Catering, were vandalised.
The riot police confronted the protesters in Aberdeen and fired the first tear gas canister in the Southern District. In Yuen Long, an off-duty officer was cornered and assaulted by the protesters after being suspected of bumping into protesters in his car. During the altercation, he shot a teenage boy with live ammunition in his left thigh, and then was further assaulted by protesters, having petrol bombs thrown at him. The police issued a statement saying that the officer acted in self-defence. The boy was admitted to Tuen Mun Hospital. After midnight, riot police officers with full gear entered the hospital. Hospital Authority expressed concerns regarding the police's presence in the hospital because its staff and patients feared that they might obstruct the hospital's operations.
The following day, many MTR stations, banks, and shops remained closed. Lam said that the law was invoked only to quell the violence and insisted that Hong Kong was not in a state of emergency, despite the use of the emergency regulations ordinance. Reuters described the introduction of the anti-mask law as "counterproductive or even inflammatory", while Vox opined that the new law might further infuriate the protesters.
5 October Protesters staged demonstrations in various districts across the city, setting barricades on main thoroughfares and blocking traffic. Dozens of protesters occupied Castle Peak Road in Yuen Long, singing and chanting anti-government slogans. Several dozen protesters also blocked Lung Cheung Road at Wong Tai Sin, throwing "hell money" and disrupting traffic at some point. Meanwhile, barricades were put up on Nathan Road in Mong Kok, with protesters also surrounding the Mong Kok police station and hurling abuses.
A very large group of people, which some reports said numbered in thousands, started a defiant march in Causeway Bay to express their opposition to the government's introduction of the anti-mask law. Many of the protesters were wearing face masks, an act that had become illegal as per the emergency laws. Several hundred masked protesters formed a human chain and moved from Tsim Sha Tsui to Sham Shui Po, also in a demonstration against the government's new anti-face mask law.
6 October Protesters marched on the streets of Hong Kong Island and Kowloon on 6 October to protest Lam's decision to invoke the emergency law. Protesters continued to wear different types of face masks in defiance of the anti-mask law. The march was largely peaceful until the police confronted the protesters and began shooting tear gas canisters. Hardline protesters began hurling objects and petrol bombs at the police while the latter deployed water cannons to disperse protesters. A RTHK reporter caught fire and suffered burns to his face after being hit by a Molotov cocktail in Wan Chai. RTHK condemned the use of violence and called all parties to show restraint.