Following last week's clashes, many protesters withdrew into the university, turning it into a makeshift fortress to fend off the law enforcement officers.
The police stormed into the university early in the morning, after a prolonged standoff with the protesters, who barricaded themselves in the university's campus. In response, the protesters began hurling Molotov cocktails at them, causing the aforementioned fire.
Almost sunrise... #PolyU pic.twitter.com/Cwx7pjvy3l
— Jake Lapham (@JakeLapham) November 17, 2019
So far, I’ve counted 3 simultaneous fires at #polyu this morning. The sun is about to rise and you can see the plumes of smoke rising into the air. pic.twitter.com/oCxUp1Xu8F
— Aidan Marzo 馬超昱 (@AidanMarzo) November 17, 2019
The mass protests began in China's special administrative region in early June as a reaction to a now-withdrawn bill that would have allowed people to be extradited to the mainland. The protests eventually escalated into violent confrontations between demonstrators and the police.
