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2023-07-21 13:32:07
Today is four years following the 7.21 incident. “Jizhishe” obtained multiple CCTV footages of the West Rail Yuen Long Station, and integrated the online footage to reconstruct the attack and conflict that night.
The closed-circuit television footage covers Exit F, the lobby, the escalator, and the platform of the Xingdian Mall. It is believed to be the first attack in the station. The man in white chased a woman in black and attacked the people next to her. However, the woman in black “beat the man in white with an umbrella” as reported by the IPCC.
According to the footage, people in white entered the station from Xingdian Mall at least three times, one of which was nearly 70 people. Two sets of shots from different angles captured the attack on former “Stand News” reporter He Guilan. At regarding 11 o’clock, men in white swarmed into the paid area to attack. Nearly a hundred people ran the stairs and escalators to the platform to avoid danger.
Reporter: Liao Junsheng
Photography: Chen Langxi
721 Four-year CCTV reorganization Yuen Long station attack
10:40 People in white clothes with sticks enter Yuen Long Station
On July 21, 2019, a large number of people in white clothes gathered and attacked citizens in the area of Fung Yau North Street and Jidi, Yuen Long, and then attacked Yuen Long Station. Police said following the incident that officers arrived at the scene 39 minutes following receiving the report. How did the attack in Yuen Long Station happen during this “no police time”?
According to the closed-circuit television at Exit F of Yuen Long Station, at 10:40:26 that night, people in white clothes entered the station from the shopping mall. First, a man in white clothes entered the station holding a “Defend Yuen Long, Defend Homeland” sign, followed by 13 people, most of whom were holding placards and bamboo branches tied with red flags.
The first round of attacks in the CCTV film reorganization is different from the description in the report of the IPCC
CCTV footage from two angles in the lobby of Yuen Long Station captured what is believed to be the first attack. At regarding 10:40:44 in the evening, a woman in black slapped her card to enter the gate. Behind her, a man in a white shirt with a backpack tried to slap her card to enter the gate but failed. Another man in white, holding a wooden stick with a protest slogan, “jumped” into the paid area and chased the woman in black. In the payment area, another woman in black and holding an umbrella ran towards the gate. The umbrella was once pointed in the direction of the man with the backpack. The distance between the two parties was more than one gate, and there was no contact. The man with the backpack lingered outside the gate for a few seconds, tried to tap his card once more, and made a phone call at one point, but he was not involved in the conflict.
As for the man in white with a stick who had “tripped” into the room, he failed to chase the first woman, turned around and walked towards the woman in black with an umbrella, and the two pushed and bumped.
Two closed-circuit television clips showed that the two sides were fighting in the pay area, and a passer-by stepped forward to separate the two; outside the pay area, regarding ten white-clothed people “jumped” and stepped over the fence to enter the pay area, using placards, flagpoles, and sticks to attack the non-white people next to the woman in black with an umbrella. People in white clothes accounted for the majority. After nearly two minutes of conflict, people in non-white clothes left along the stairs, and people in white clothes stepped over the fence to leave the payment area.
CCTV footage showed 13 men in white leaving the Xingpoint mall at regarding 10:43:04 p.m. following the first attack.
Web footage confirms that some of the first attackers left wearing “Xiaxi” white clothes
Synthetic Network Segment，Some of the people who stepped forward to separate were not wearing black clothes. Most of them resisted the attack with bare hands, and some people fought back with umbrellas. Some netizens photographed some people’s white clothes with “Xiaxi” printed on them, red ribbons and bamboo branches of the national flag tied by hand. After the attack, someone was on the phone in a bloodied area in the pay zone.
Exit F of Yuen Long Station, CCTV footage of the day showed that the first group of attackers in white entered and left Yuen Long Station through this exit.
Jizhishe archives: The IPCC report alleges that the woman in black “beat the man in white with an umbrella”
The time, location, and general process of the attack coincided with the first round of conflict mentioned in the IPCC report. However, the report described that when the man in white was chasing the first woman in black, another woman in black rushed forward to help and “beat the man in white with an umbrella”. The first woman escaped, and the man in white then turned to attack the second woman.
The reporter saw the closed-circuit TV footage from two angles, as well as the media broadcast footage, but did not see the second woman in black “beating the man in white with an umbrella” as stated in the report. “Jizhishe” emailed and called the IPCC for inquiries, and the IPCC responded verbally, stating that the report has been published for many years and there will be no further supplements or responses.
“Jizhishe” obtained multiple CCTV footages of West Rail Yuen Long Station, some of which covered Exit F and the lobby area.
10:48 Nearly 70 people in white entered the station
CCTV footage showed non-white people gathering in the pay zone regarding a minute following the first round of clashes. About three minutes later, that is, at 10:48, nearly 70 white-clothed people entered the station at Exit F, many of them holding rattan and long sticks.
As seen on the web during this period, former Legislative Council member Lam Cheuk-ting live-streamed on Facebook, and he arrived at regarding 10:44. The people in white who entered the station included the man who was involved in the first round of attacks and wore a “Xiaxi” shirt.
“Jizhishe” archives: The IPCC reports that regarding a hundred “men in black” gathered
According to the report of the IPCC, at 10:44 on the night of 721, a councilor arrived at the pay area of Yuen Long Station, and regarding 100 “men in black” gathered. The report quoted news reports that these “men in black” had just participated in the parade on Hong Kong Island. At 10:48, regarding 70 people in white clothes entered Yuen Long Station through Exit F, some of them were holding sticks, flags, sticks and umbrellas.
CCTV captures woman in white attacking first
Closed-circuit television captured that at 10:48:46, nearly ten white-clothed men holding rattan canes approached the turnstile and shouted. Half a minute later, a woman in white outside the gate rushed forward and waved the flagpole with the regional flag. The other two white-clothed men waved canes outside the fence, and the people in the payment area retreated. The white-clothed men approached the gate, and a conflict broke out between the two sides.
The net saw a white-clothed man suspected of holding a dagger in military uniform who had been there
The reporter obtained a number of high-definition footage shot at the scene, and saw a white-clothed man in “Xiaxi” clothing holding an object suspected to be a short knife and waving it up and down inside the gate. Some of the people inside the gates wore black clothes, a few wore helmets, and many wore other colors.
Another high-definition video captured that at 10:53, a uniformed policeman appeared near Exit G and the escalator, estimated to be regarding 25 meters away from the payment area.
At regarding 10:44 that night, CCTV captured people gathering in the lobby, and at 10:48, people in white approached the turnstile and yelled.
Archives of “Jizhishe”: The three policemen once came to the scene and said they did not see the fight, thinking that they might not handle it
The IPCC reported that at 10:52 p.m., the three police officers arrived at Exit G1 of Yuen Long Station. They did not see a fight, but a group of people in white clothes were agitated inside the station. Considering the number of people present, the police officers felt that they might not handle it. They reported to the Sergeant that there was a confrontation between people in the paid area and those in the non-paid area. The Sergeant reported to the Operations Office of the Yuen Long Police District, and the Operations Office instructed to evacuate and wait nearby for reinforcements.
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10:59 He Guilan was attacked
CCTV footage captured the moment He Guilan was attacked. At 10:57:34, when the ambulancemen arrived, He and a man in black approached the fence. Another man outside the gate approached and swung a stick at them, but missed. Nearly two minutes later, someone in the payment area on the other side was besieged, and the man in white ran in that direction; He also went out of the gate, and a man in a red shirt with a cane ran to the gate, waved the cane, and chased He who was next to him. When He ran away, a man in non-white came forward to help, and at the same time someone came out of the gate, all of them were chased and beaten by the man in white.
According to the live footage, the man in red shirt whipped He Guilan three times with a cane. She fell to the ground and got up to continue filming with her mobile phone. Outside the gate, a man in black and a woman in white skirt stepped forward and were attacked by several men in white. The woman in long skirt fell to the ground, and the man in black who was walking with them was surrounded by at least six men in white for regarding 35 seconds.
He Guilan was filming the attack at one point, when men in white suddenly surrounded and beat He for nearly half a minute, and citizen reporter Galileo drove to protect her.
People in white drenching liquid inside the gate Non-white people spray water White people break into the paid area
CCTV shows that at 11 o’clock, people in the pay area opened umbrellas, and a person in white poured liquid, stepped forward and punched, beat the gate with a wooden stick, and threw an ice cream cone, and the people in the gate retreated. Then someone in the gate opened a fire hose to spray water, and the men in white clothes in front of the gate retreated; another group of regarding 20 men in white clothes came in from Xingdian Shopping Center with long sticks and canes.
After someone in the gate sprayed water, the people in white clothes in front of the gate dispersed for a while, and an ambulanceman came out. When several other ambulancemen were regarding to exit the gate, some men in white came to the gate and swung sticks, but the ambulancemen were not hit.
At 11:02:30, a person in white rushed into the paid area to chase and beat the non-white-clothed people. The crowd of white-clothed people almost filled the paid area, and the non-white-clothed people backed away.
“Jizhishe” archives: The IPCC reported that some people in black shot water and sprayed people in white with fire extinguishers
The IPCC report described that when He Guilan and others were attacked, several men in black and two reporters crossed the turnstile to the non-paying area. “Multiple men in white chased and attacked them.” Later, it was said that “at 10:59 p.m., some men in black shot water at the men in white with fire hoses and sprayed them with fire extinguishers in the paid area. It is not known what happened to the two journalists and the men in black who were beaten by men in white.”
721 CCTV reorganized Yuen Long station for four years and attacked the lobby
11:02 Run the stairs to avoid the violent beating by the men in white
The closed-circuit television of the platform facing the escalator showed that at 11:02:35, people in white clothes in the lobby ran up the platform from the stairs and escalators. The men in white were beaten with canes and sticks. According to the reporter’s statistics, regarding 45 people ran to the platform from the narrow escalator, and there was a lot of danger. A man in white attacked those who went up the stairs for nearly a minute.
Another high-definition clip shows that a man in a horizontal shirt was pulled and punched by a man in white. A man in gray next to him tried to stop him from being driven away;
“Jizhisha” Archives Police Commission report: The man in black fought back with an umbrella or defended himself
The IPCC reported that at 11:02 p.m., the man in white entered the paid area, and the man in black and members of the Legislative Council rushed up the stairs to the platform and into the carriages to escape; citing the MTR, the train might not leave Yuen Long Station because the doors might not be closed. The report continued that the men in white did not catch up to the platform at first, but stayed in the lobby area and attacked the men in black who were going to the platform. “The men in black fought back with umbrellas or defended themselves.”
People in white clothes occupied the platform and beat the man who fell to the ground
According to the closed-circuit television, at 11:05, a person in white on the platform hurried into the carriage towards Tuen Mun. The clip at the rear of the car shows that the men in white arrived at the platform level. At that time, there were so many people in white that they almost occupied the entire platform.
A man in white was beaten outside the carriage. At 11:05:55, a man in black with an umbrella fell to the ground and was beaten by at least five men in white. Someone in the carriage dragged him into the car.
A search of multiple online videos of that night showed that in some carriages, a dozen men in white clothes entered and attacked. The high-definition video shows that in a carriage, at least ten white-clothed men took turns attacking with bamboo branches tied with regional flags, thick rattan and bamboo branches.
721 Four-year CCTV reorganization Yuen Long station attack stairs
A woman in white assaulted a man in gray to dissuade the man in white, but to no avail
In the CCTV footage, at 11:09:28, a braided woman in a patterned white dress kept attacking people in the car with what appeared to be an umbrella. She attacked for more than a minute and threw objects into the car. In addition, a man in gray came out of the carriage at 11:06:14. He then tried to raise his hands several times to dissuade the man in white to stop the attack, but the man in white ignored him; at 11:07, he was suspected of dissuading him and was pushed away by the man in white, but he was not attacked. Then he stood aside, and later persuaded the woman in white with patterns to attack the carriage.
Nearly 11:12:20, the men in white began to disperse, and he walked aside and squatted down. Afterwards, someone threw sundries out of the carriage, and he stepped forward to dissuade him, and the stick-like object thrown from the carriage hit him on the head. At 11:14, following the train and the man in white left, the man in gray remained on the platform using his phone.
At least 140 men in white were on the platform following the attack took more than eight minutes before the train left
From 11:12 to 13:00, the door of the car was closed and opened multiple times, and the man in white who seemed to be leaving at one point turned back and attacked the people in the car. At 11:13:10, the doors were completely closed, and the men in white left; regarding 30 seconds later, the train left, and all the men in white also left the platform.
According to the closed-circuit television at the escalator position, counting began at 11:12 when the white-clothed people dispersed. About 48 white-clothed people left via the escalator, and nearly 90 white-clothed people left via the stairs. In other words, it is estimated that there were at least nearly 140 people in white on the platform during the attack.
721 Four years following CCTV reorganized Yuen Long station and attacked the platform
Reports say police didn’t arrive until a minute following the attack
CCTV in the lobby showed that from 11:12:30 to 11:15, a large number of people in white clothes left the paid area one following another. Internet clips show that at around 11:15, dozens of people in white clothes ran towards the overpass at Exit G2. At that time, police officers wearing anti-riot helmets came up the escalator and saw the people in white clothes running away but did not chase or stop them.
The IPCC reported that members of the Rapid Response Unit of the Yuen Long Police Station arrived at Yuen Long Station at 11:15 pm, and the attack had ended a minute before that, at 11:14 pm.
According to the report, when the police officers arrived at the upper lobby, some people in white clothes ran in front of the police officers, but the police officers did not chase or stop them. According to the police, when the police officers arrived at Yuen Long Station, they saw crowds, but did not witness any violence. The men in white clothes who were leaving the lobby did not have any riots or acts of violence.
The police replied that since the July 21 incident, the police have arrested a total of 69 people, aged between 18 and 87. “Jizhishe” searched media reports and counted, among the 68 people arrested, including 53 “people in white clothes” and 15 “people in non-white clothes”. The identity of the remaining person is unknown. The police replied that they did not explain the circumstances of the person’s arrest at the time.
It took 39 minutes for Jizhishe to arrive at the scene following receiving the report. Deng Bingqiang once responded that he should hurry up.
After the 7.21 incident, Zeng Zhengke, the then deputy commander of the New Territories North Region, said in response to the reporter that the time from the time the police received the report to the arrival at the scene, “I believe there are no words to wait,” and then added: “Oh, 39 minutes.” Xie Zhenzhong, then Chief Superintendent of the Police Public Relations Division, responded on July 22, 2019 that when dealing with large-scale conflicts in the past, the police intervened to escalate the incident and become chaotic, and it was necessary to carefully evaluate the appropriate time for intervention. These 39 minutes were described as “no police time”.
The then Commissioner of Police Lo Wai-chung said on July 22, 2019, that on the night of 7.21, the police were taking care of the violent conflicts on Hong Kong Island all night. “Over the past month or so, we have concentrated a large number of manpower on Hong Kong Island, while the rest have been distributed in various districts to continue serving the public. When there is a need for such a special environment as yesterday, Yuen Long District encountered such a large-scale conflict in Sheung Wan, and there were several fighting incidents in Yuen Long District itself. day, even if we have deployment… “.
On August 26, 2020, Chen Tianzhu, the senior superintendent of the Criminal Headquarters of the New Territories North Region, changed his name to the police and said that it took 18 minutes for the police to arrive at Yuen Long Station. The next day, the then Commissioner of Police, Deng Bingqiang, responded that 18 minutes was the time from the quick response team being notified to arriving at the scene, and 39 minutes was the time from the police receiving the report to arriving at the scene. It is more reasonable to use 39 minutes to understand. Deng pointed out at the time that it was not ideal to take 39 minutes, “it should be faster”, and there was a gap with the expectations of the public, and a review was underway.
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