After the 1 July police stabbing, Hong Kong police and the government characterized the incident as a "lone wolf" terrorist attack. Foreign media saw the stabbing as a sign of a steep decline of the reputation of the police in the eyes of some locals, a process that had begun with the 2019–2020 Hong Kong protests. They also considered the uncovering of a bomb plot on 5 July as evidence of a polarization in society, and pointed to the influence of diminishing legal ways to voice dissent in the year since the national security law came into effect. At the beginning of the month, the police arrested citizens who posted on the Internet for inciting others to kill the police. Later it persecuted members of the student union of Hong Kong University for having passed a motion, subsequently withdrawn, that had praised the "sacrifice" of the deceased attacker of 1 July.
The first trial under the national security law concluded on 30 July with a nine-year sentence. Defendant Tong Ying-kit, who on 1 July 2020 had driven a motorcycle into policemen while flying the protest slogan "Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times", had been tried by appointed national security judges and had been unable to obtain bail under the stringent national security bail conditions. Much of the time in the 15-day trial was taken by arguments about whether the slogan constituted a call for independence. The judges eventually embraced the argument by the prosecution that the slogan was "intended to communicate secessionist meaning" and was "capable of inciting others to commit secession". In view of the wide use of the slogan during the 2019–2020 protests, this was seen by observers as setting a precedent for future convictions. The sentence was considered as excessively harsh by critics from the democracy camp. Tong appealed his sentence; the retrial was scheduled for March 2022.
On 31 July, the Education Bureau cut ties with the Hong Kong Professional Teachers' Union hours after the union had come under attack by Chinese state media. The bureau justified its move by claiming that the union had been "dragging schools into politics". The move was seen by observers as another reflection of governmental pressure on civic society.
Chief Executive Carrie Lam said on 6 July that the government would strengthen its efforts to improve the supervision of social media to combat fake news or incitement of violence. She related the 1 July stabbing to the lax regulations to date. She said that all departments and government organizations would take part in the improvement.
1 July
1 July protest banned As it had done a year earlier, police issued a notice of objection to the annual 1 July democracy protest on the grounds of the COVID-19 pandemic. Police were closely guarding the Causeway Bay area, citing the Public Order Ordinance to close Victoria Park, and putting up tight cordons across the city. In Soy Street and in front of Langham Place, 11 arrests were made on suspicion of distribution of "seditious publications", including three leaders of Student Politicism; police put up orange cordon at the site of the arrest of the three on Soy Street and told the public to leave the area, citing COVID-19 public gathering restrictions, which limited gatherings to groups of at most four. Student Politicism had intended to start a street booth at the time of the arrests. The Confederation of Trade Unions had street booths quashed in Causeway Bay and Mong Kok. The League of Social Democrats managed to set up a street both at the Canal Road flyover. It had staged a four-person protest in the morning. 19 people were arrested in the city throughout the day.
Stabbing of a police officer
At 10:10 pm, Leung Kin-fai, a 50-year-old man, was outside Sogo Department Store in Causeway Bay. He suddenly approached from behind and stabbed a Tactical Unit police officer with a knife before stabbing himself in the heart. The police officer suffered an injury in his shoulder blade and a punctured lung. Leung was immediately overpowered by surrounding police officers and taken to hospital. He was certified dead at 11:20 pm that night.
2 July
Citizens went to Causeway Bay to lay flowers to commemorate the stabber After the assassination, some netizens described the deceased Leung Kin-fai as a 'martyr' and 'brave'. Starting in the morning, citizens outside Sogo Department Store in Causeway Bay offered flowers to mourn. Some people offering free hugs at the scene were intercepted by police officers for investigation. From noon, all citizens holding flowers and near Sogo were searched. Some citizens put white flowers in mourning and were issued littering tickets by the police officers, who pointed out that the act of laying down flowers was suspected of inciting others. Plainclothes police officers were observed disposing flowers left by mourners.
As of 3 and 4 July, there were still citizens bringing white flowers to the scene of the crime. The police sent a number of officers to guard outside Sogo and intercepted and searched several citizens wearing black clothes.
4 July
Statements by Raymond Siu and Johannes Chan on mourning activities regarding 1 July stabbing The new Commissioner of Police, Raymond Siu, stated that the recent mourning of Leung Kin-fai on 1 July violated morals and ethics. Johannes Chan, professor of public law at the University of Hong Kong, said it was impossible to determine whether the incident is a terrorist activity and the police should not expand the law indefinitely. He opined that it was far-fetched to consider the mourning of the assailant as violating the law. He said that mourning could be motivated by sympathy, or be an expression of dissatisfaction with the government.
Two people arrested for allegedly inciting to kill the police and set fire to police stations On 4 July, police arrested a 20-year-old woman and a 26-year-old man in Tin Shui Wai and Sha Tin, respectively, on suspicion of inciting others to murder police officers and to set fire to police stations. Police said that the two had allegedly posted "abusive comments and inciting messages" on Telegram and LIHKG. While they declined to say that there was a link to the 1 July stabbing of a police officer, they noted that the posts had been made a day after the incident.
5 July
Man arrested for sedition over allegedly inciting to attack police officers The police arrested a 34-year-old man in Yau Ma Tei for inciting others to commit crimes with intent to injure others, alleging that he had made a statement about 'cutting police officers' on an online discussion platform on 2 July. Police did not rule out the possibility of additional arrests.
6 July
Returning Valiant members arrested by the National Security Department on suspicion of attempting to manufacture explosives The National Security Department of the Hong Kong Police stated that it had smashed the radical Hong Kong pro-independence organization Returning Valiant in multiple districts across Hong Kong on 5 July and arrested nine people suspected of attempting to manufacture the explosive TATP. They said that the group had planned to attack undersea tunnels, railways, courts and also place bombs in garbage bins. Nine persons arrested in the case were aged between 15 and 39, including six secondary school students, as well as a public relations and communications officer of the School of Continuing Education of Baptist University, a secondary school teacher and an unemployed person. Police froze more than HK$600,000 in assets. Senior Superintendent Li Kwai-wah of the National Security Department said that the group had rented a hostel room near Nathan Road in Tsim Sha Tsui as a bomb laboratory in June, and had planned to launch an attack two court buildings in early July.
Bank of America lawyer sentenced to 4 months and 2 weeks imprisonment On 22 June, Samuel Phillip Bickett, a 37-year-old Bank of America lawyer, had been convicted on the charge of assaulting a police officer in 2019. The police officer had been hitting a teenager who had jumped a MTR subway turnstile in an attempt to stop him, and this evolved into an altercation involving other bystanders. When asked on video if he was “popo”, the police officer responded “No,” at which point Bickett reached in to grab hold of the man’s weapon, resulting in a scuffle. The magistrate of the Eastern Magistrates' Court, Arthur Lam Hei-wei, said he found the police officer's response "perfectly understandable" as he viewed "popo" as a "disrespectful reference" by the crowd, and referred to later points in the video in which the police officer did identify himself. He also pointed out that the officer had sustained multiple injuries caused by Bickett, and cited the risk that the offence might inspire imitation and posed a threat to public order. Bickett was sentenced on 6 July to 4 months and 2 weeks in prison. U.S. Consulate General in Hong Kong and Macau also sent representatives to observe. The staff of the consulate urged the Hong Kong government to maintain judicial independence, ensure that the court is free from political interference, and respect everyone's right to a fair trial.
Civil Rights Observer dissolved Since the establishment of the Umbrella Movement in 2014, Civil Rights Observer, which is concerned about the rights of the police and human rights in Hong Kong, issued a statement saying that due to the current situation in Hong Kong and the shortage of operating resources, it would cease operations on 5 July.
7 July
Two students found guilty of rioting On 12 November 2019, two CUHK students and two vocational students from PolyU were arrested. Four people were charged with rioting, violation of the Prohibition on Face Covering Regulation and possession of offensive weapons, etc. Among them, an 18-year-old vocational student was charged with possession of a laser pointer. All four students denied the charges. As of 7 July, District Court ruled that the 13 police officers accused by judge Clement Lee who gave evidence were all honest and reliable witnesses. The first two defendants (Chan Hey-hang, a CUHK student, and Lee Chun-ho, a PolyU student) were found not guilty of rioting. However, vocational student Cheung Chun-ho and CUHK student Tang Hei-man, who had appeared in court to defend themselves, were convicted of rioting. The judge dismissed the defence of Tang who said that he had intended to attended the graduation ceremony of his sister, and that of Tang who had said she hoped to get creative inspiration for literary works. He agreed with the view of the persecution that Cheung had actively taken part in the confrontation, while Tang had been dressed similarly to the demonstrators and stayed on the front line for 13 minutes, thereby encouraging the confrontation. He cleared Cheung of the charge of possession a dangerous weapon, citing irregularities in the police handling of the evidence.
Members of the LegCo asked the government to propose CCP museum in Hong Kong