So a few words about this sit in taking place right now at Yoho mall, which, I don't care what you say, I am always going to call YOLO Mall.pic.twitter.com/nyX7GCWY84
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Like many malls, this one sits on top of an MTR station, in this case Yuen Long, which was the scene of a horrific incident on July 21. Thugs entered the station and beat passengers, while the police did nothing. You can read about it here:https://www.hongkongfp.com/2019/07/22/hong-kong-police-made-no-arrests-mob-assaulted-commuters-protesters-journalists-yuen-long/ …
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Tonight marks two months since the attack, in which the police violated their most basic duty—to keep people safe. There was supposed to be a sit-in at the station, but the police closed it off. So the sit in has moved to the mall
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Why don't the police clear the mall? They kind of can't. The mall is private property and there is no way the owners will let the cops enter. They could force their way in, but that would be a huge escalation and likely illegal (help me out on this point!)
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Why do the owners let this happen without inviting police in? Because the protesters will leave here without touching a thing, but if the owners were to invite the police in, the demonstrators would consider the mall a fair target
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This is what happened to the MTR. When I first got here in August, it was neutral ground. Police stopped at the gates and protesters never damaged stations. But the MTR started aiding the police, and now it gets trashed on the regular
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It's hard to overemphasize how selective protesters are about property damage. The only time I've seen this violated is when frontliners are scared and barricading, and then they'll bar mall doors and discharge fire extinguishers to make floors slippery
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More points of interest! Note that the police decision to close two stations today had the knock on effect of shutting a giant mall on a Saturday night, and much of a business and market district in Tuen Mun. The weekend closures have a huge economic impact
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So
@Comparativist points out that this mall, like so many others, is owned by the MTR. https://twitter.com/Comparativist/status/1175381781228351489?s=19 …This Tweet is unavailable.Show this thread -
The police are outside and protesters are at the windows taunting them. But they've also soaped the floor by the closed MTR gate, to give themselves a few seconds headstart if police do charge inpic.twitter.com/P9GxXjKXAY
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Just imagine antifa or your favorite black bloc back home doing this. The mall is absolutely packed, with nowhere to sit except the floor, but no one crosses even the flimsiest boundarypic.twitter.com/Jv3dMy4AXy
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Also the mall management has loaner strollers because of course it doespic.twitter.com/MhIkAEk24U
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Moment of silence, followed by moment of non silence (chant is reclaim Hong Kong, revolution of our time)pic.twitter.com/WKnRqsr4Rw
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Since I'm kind of trapped in a mall, let's talk about first aiders and the press! They play an important role when the cops do show up
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I wrote somewhere that protesters tend to describe what they are doing in the language of care. Frontliners say they are protecting everyone else by interposing themselves between the bulk of protesters and the police. supply people in back express concern for frontliners
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This language of care has something to do with civic culture here that I don't understand. It's part of the glue that keeps the very disparate factions of this movement united. The first aiders fit right into this schema!
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(outback steakhouse booth has been breached! Population pressure got too high!)pic.twitter.com/3xtKWSXJkH
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So if you've attended or watched video from a protest, you've seen that there are more first aiders than anyone could possibly need.pic.twitter.com/kuV4oAsRbu
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Sorry, got overtaken by events. Will finish this deep thread over a beer
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End of conversation
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