After HK Teen Is Shot, Critics Condemn 'Trigger-Happy' Cops

Chinese state media, meanwhile, says shooting of teen protester was 'totally appropriate'
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 2, 2019 7:47 AM CDT
Chinese State Media: Shooting of HK Teen 'Totally Appropriate'
A supporter holds a printing featuring a protester being shot in the chest by police during a strike in Hong Kong on Wednesday.   (AP Photo/Vincent Yu)

China's commemoration of 70 years of Communist rule earned a thumbs-up from the US president, but in Hong Kong, protesters called National Day a "day of grief." With mass transit in the city shut down, Molotov cocktails thrown, and roads blocked, police started firing tear gas and even bullets in some districts—and an 18-year-old protester was shot. Now, that shooting has led to "raw anger" and an uneasy uncertainty on whether things will be further incited, reports the New York Times, which also provides an analysis of the apparent shooting footage. Locals are polarized over the attack on Tsang Chi-kin, who was said to have been shot in the left shoulder and taken to a hospital.

At his high school, current students, alumni, and staff staged a sit-in to condemn what one lawmaker calls "trigger-happy" police, asking why the school hasn't been more forceful in doing the same, the Guardian reports. "Can you see how many people are crying here?" one attendee noted, per the Times. But others, including Leung Chun-ying, the city's ex-CEO, said the teen should be punished for taking part in the protest. "Could you not directly denounce his wrongdoing?" Leung posted online. State media, meanwhile, calls his shooting "totally legal and appropriate," per the South China Morning Post. Quartz notes the teen's shooting was virtually "invisible" in China. The Morning Post reports Tsang is said to be in critical but stable condition after surgery, with sources noting there's a "good chance he will survive." (More Hong Kong stories.)

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