'Mini Stonehenges': Hong Kong protesters take on police, one brick at a time

Demonstrators devise tactic that slows the progress of charging police

By Verna Yu in Hong Kong

Bricks stacked by pro-democracy protesters littler in a street during a flash mob in Central district.

Hong Kong protesters have alighted on a new way to counter the police, as the five-month old anti-government resistance grinds on and their tactics evolve further.
The latest strategy being deployed across the city involves protesters stacking bricks that resemble mini-temples across thoroughfares to function as roadblocks.
Locally dubbed “brick battlegrounds” or “mini-Stonehenges”, they have been hailed by many supporters as creative installations to deter the advance of riot police and stop cars from driving over thoroughfares.
It is the latest tactic adopted by protesters in the five-month anti-government movement which has seen metal and plastic roadside barriers used as make-shift barricades, umbrellas and cling film used to shield against tear gas and pepper spray, foam swimming boards and cupboard doors used as shields against rubber bullets and sponge rounds, and sporting goods such as bows and arrows used as weapons.
Demonstrators were setting up the structures on Friday during a lunchtime rally in the central business district. 

They could be seen outside the entrances of Chinese University of Hong Kong, one of the focal points of the protests. 

“We are putting them everywhere,” a protester said.


Lily Kuo
✔@lilkuo
Replying to @lilkuo
These mini stonehenge road blocks being set up. A protester setting them up says they are to slow down water cannons and police vehicles. When hit by a wheel, the block on top falls and helps buttress the other two.
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6:39 AM - Nov 15, 2019

Demonstrators said that the three-part structures help slow down police vehicles -- water cannons or armoured cars. 

When struck by a wheel, the block on top falls away from the wheel and behind the two remaining bricks, acting as a buttress.
Conflict between police and protesters escalated this week after a police officer shot a 21-year-old student in the stomach as demonstrators attempted to disrupt the Monday morning rush hour.
A citywide strike and widespread traffic disruption this week was called for by protesters after the death of Chow Tsz-lok, a 22-year-old student who died last Friday from brain damage following a fall during protests.

Aprotester stands amongst bricks placed on a barricaded street outside The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Many thoroughfares outside universities and in the financial hub of Central have been blocked by the “brick battlegrounds” – some overlaid with long bamboo poles used for building scaffolding locally – since Monday.
The tactic has successfully forced traffic to grind to a halt and bus routes to divert this week. 

Protesters also dropped bricks onto main roads or threw burning objects onto railway tracks in an attempt to paralyse Hong Kong’s normally efficient public transport. 

Police entered several universities and fired teargas for the first time this week in what they said were "necessary" actions to stop students from engaging in "dangerous" action.

Riot police clear a street with bricks left by pro-democracy protesters scattered on the pavement 

“Bricks are stacked up and scattered across the streets to make it difficult for vehicles to drive over – and it’s much harder to clear than ordinary roadblocks made with traffic barriers,” one protester told the Guardian.
“The bricks are great for turning the streets into battlegrounds and so easy to pick up. Good for slowing down the riot police when they come charging too,” said a post on social media.
In some places, bricks are even fixed onto the ground with wet cement to make it impossible for cars to drive over without damaging tyres, said another protester.
“Perhaps one day we will be able to call those our Arcs of Triumph,” said a post on the Reddit website.

Hong Kong is trying to impose Tiananmen by stealth – Carrie Lam herself is now the enemy of the people

This isn't a confrontation between the government and rebellious youths. It is a clash between a lame-duck government imposing the iron will of Beijing and millions of citizens
By Stuart Heaver

The regular weekend street protests in Hong Kong have spilled over into pitch battles in the middle of the working day in the city's busy financial district, as Carrie Lam's beleaguered government gives the police a free hand to impose a Beijing style crackdown on all forms of dissent.
There may be no tanks, but the People's Liberation Army (PLA) troops are already here, disguised as Hong Kong riot police as part of a concerted policy to impose Tiananmen by stealth and create a climate of fear.
It can’t be verified but riot police in full body amour looking like stormtroopers from a science fiction movie, wear masks, show no official ID and are heard speaking in Putonghua dialect. 

They could be anyone. 

The average height of Hong Kong police officers appears to have increased by about 10cm since July and photos circulated online by the Demosisto party, appear to show Hong Kong police mustered inside a PLA barracks. 

Their primary job is to intimidate.
The tragic death last Friday, of student demonstrator, Alex Chow Tsz-lok, who fell from a multi-storey car park while fleeing police tear gas the previous weekend, presented an opportunity for Lam to call for reason and dialogue; to offer concessions and seek political solutions.




Instead of leadership, broken Hong Kong was offered only more lame condemnation and the promise of more crackdowns on the protesters she has described as “enemies of the people.”
Unfortunately for Lam, there is still widespread mainstream support for these so-called enemies, and Hongkongers are typically defiant.
During a peaceful unauthorized rally in Victoria Park earlier this month, which was subsequently broken up by police tear gas, I asked one attendee (not wearing black or a face mask) whether he felt intimidated or in fear for their safety.
“Of course, that is why we are here, once we stop coming, they have won,” he told me.
Lam’s uncompromising stance has only triggered new levels of anger and tension as the government provokes violence and then condemns it in a futile cycle which is destroying this once great city.
The resultant tense and febrile atmosphere has already led to a man being set on fire and an unarmed young protester being shot at close range by a police officer on Monday morning and left critically ill in hospital.
Carrie Lam announces anti-face mask law for Hong Kong protesters
There are widespread rumours and accusations of rapes, beatings and brutality in police custody which are impossible to verify. 

I have witnessed old folks collapsed in doorways receiving first aid for the effects of tear gas inhalation and parents holding wet towels to their children’s faces, rushing for shelter from the new brand of tear gas, manufactured in China. 

It penetrates most gas masks and burns the lungs, causing some to cough up blood.
Bankers and office workers were tear-gassed during their lunch hour in Central’s affluent business district for two days running this week, and students are being attacked by police with baton rounds on campus. 

Legitimate election candidates have been arrested or attacked, or both, and peaceful assemblies and rallies attended by families and children are broken up by armed riot police dispensing tear gas.
It is misleading to portray this crisis as a confrontation between the government and rebellious youths. 

It is a confrontation between a lame-duck government imposing the iron will of Beijing and millions of people in Hong Kong. 

If anyone is the enemy of the people, it is Lam, Beijing’s stooge.
Anyone wanting to experience the sudden imposition of a police state and white terror, try a short break in Hong Kong.