An American lawyer living in Hong Kong was charged with assaulting a police officer on Tuesday for intervening in an altercation he witnessed two years ago, adding to fears of increasingly tightening restrictions in the updated judicial system.
The man in blue sweater, Bickett Samuel Phillip, is an American & is charged with assault on police officer.
This footage shows that the man said "no" when asked "are you a popo?". He never showed his police officer ID. #HongKong #StandWithHongKong #HKPoliceBrutality pic.twitter.com/NRAx851TnZ
— Adam Young ? (@AdamYoungHK) December 9, 2019
In 2019, corporate lawyer Samuel Bickett was reportedly on his way to dinner when he saw an off-duty officer in plain clothing hitting a man in the subway station with a baton, and went to intervene.
AFP reported that in 2019, the city of Hong Kong had been shaken by often violent democracy protests, resulting in the use of retractable batons that the near 30,000 police officers were allowed to carry during off-duty hours to protect them.
According to local reports, Senior Constable Yu Shu-sang was dressed in plain clothes and used his baton to stop someone from dodging the subway fare.
Bickett’s defense team argued that the American lawyer had no idea Shu-sang was an officer but felt he was using excessive force and attempted to grab the baton away as Shu-sang beat a teenager.
According to the report and what can be seen in a video posted on Twitter, a man asked Shu-sang if he was police with the phrase “Are you popo?” to which Shu-sang initially denied, before later saying yes.
Source: https://www.newsweek.com/american-lawyer-jailed-breaking-fight-during-hong-kong-protest-1603086
