HK police arrest student leader carrying lasers

Hong Kong police charged a student leader from the Baptist University of Hong Kong with possession of offensive weapons on Tuesday after they found 10 laser pointers in his bag as he walking through Sham Shui Po in Kowloon.

Police said the items were not “laser pointers” but “laser guns” and held a demonstration during a press conference on Wednesday. They pointed the beam from a “laser gun” at a piece of newspaper two meters away for about 10 seconds and then smoke started coming from the page and a burned spot formed on the newspaper page.

Police condemned the protesters for using “laser guns” to target their officers, saying protesters pointed at their officers’ eyes at previous protests and could have caused injuries.

The arrest led to another night of clashes and crowd dispersion and police fired tear gas at people gathered outside the district police station who were demanding the release of the student leader.