The University issued a statement afterwards, in which it denied that there was any connection between the stance of University and the actions of Ho. Of the 30 people who have so far been arrested, some of whom have links to organised crime syndicates, only four individuals have been charged as suspects. [136] Lam ultimately condemned the organised attacks on protesters and bystanders, stating that "violence will only breed more violence." [68] On 21 January 2020, eight people injured in the attack, including lawmaker Lam Cheuk-ting, announced that they had filed a lawsuit against the police force, demanding 2.7 million Hong Kong dollars in compensation; Lam stated that the lawsuit had been filed to seek "justice for the victims and for Hong Kong". The assault on Sunday targeted people who were returning from antigovernment protests, and raised the fears of violence compounding political upheaval in the city. The attack came in a night of violence that opened new fronts in Hong Kong’s widening political crisis over an extradition bill to send people to China for trial. The Kuomintang used Chinese criminal gangs to attack their political enemies at various times during the Republican era in China. [85] Despite the risk of committing the unlawful assembly offence, tens of thousands of people, or 288,000 as the original march applicant estimated, turned up in the town. Kevin Lau, the former chief editor of Ming Pao, a prominent Hong Kong newspaper, was seriously injured in a knife attack in 2014. At least 45 people (including 1 pregnant woman, Around 700 white-shirted men with suspected, Japan – The Consulate-General of Japan in Hong Kong issued new warning to their expatriates in Hong Kong, This page was last edited on 17 January 2021, at 21:16. Hundreds of social workers then marched to the same police station to report the violence, hand over criminal evidence and file complaints against the police. None of the men thought to have carried out the attacks were arrested that night, and officers were seen calmly chatting with men carrying sticks and metal bars and wearing white T-shirts, the attire of the thugs. [46] The management of Yoho Mall, a shopping centre next to Yuen Long station, also attempted to call the police but they could not get in touch with them. [129], There was backlash on 22 July when 30 protesters demonstrated at Yuen Long police station to condemn the attacks, the delayed police response, and the alleged collusion between police and triad gangs. The police force's inaction, as well as mounting evidence of corruption and misconduct by the Hong Kong police, led some citizens to accuse the police of collusion with the mob, failing in their duty to protect the public.[23]. [90][94] Protesters fleeing to Yuen Long station were followed by the Special Tactical Squad, and a standoff occurred inside the station. [59], Meanwhile, leaked videos show that two uniformed police officers had arrived on the scene but then turned away. Terrified screams rang out … HONG KONG — A lawmaker, a father, his teenage son and a woman who was too scared to show her face spoke Wednesday about an attack in a Hong Kong train station by a mob of men armed with sticks and poles. [105], The police failed to arrest the perpetrators adequately and promptly following the attack. In Taiwan, where the Kuomintang fled in 1949 after losing a civil war to the Communist Party, gangs still sometimes wield political influence. In response, online posts urged Yuen Long residents to protect their homeland and to expel protesters, with warnings of potential violence against protesters.[27][28].