A video showing Hong Kong police officers beating a man who had been attempting to protect young protesters has given rise to another wave of outrage at police.

Two widely shared videos filmed over the weekend show a man in a yellow high-vis vest laying on the ground while being repeatedly kicked and hit by a group of officers.

On Tuesday, members of “protect the children”, a group of middle-aged and elderly residents who try to act as human barriers between the police and protesters, said one of their group was the person being kicked in the videos, contradicting police claims that officers were only kicking a “yellow object”.

Vasco Williams argues the video is outfocused. Now in this exclusive live & sharp video recording from resident in Yuen Long, you could notice how police assaulted and kicked the man from "Protect the Child" action #antiELAB #ExtraditionLaw #HongKongProtests pic.twitter.com/nbgkLkraOD — Galileo Cheng (@galileocheng) September 23, 2019

According to the group, the man in the video had confronted officers during a protest on Saturday in Yuen Long, in Hong Kong’s New Territories. He had shouted at police after they pepper-sprayed one of the group’s members, a 73-year-old known as Uncle Chan. Chan had been trying to stop officers from dragging a protester into an alley.

“He started shouting at the police officers but actually he didn’t touch any of them,” said Kenneth Ip, a member of the group. “He kept shouting at them and after that the police officer pulled him inside the police line.”

Ip said it was difficult to see what was happening but the man appeared to have lost consciousness after police dragged him away. He was later taken to hospital and charged with assaulting a police officer. He does not want to be publicly identified, according to the group.

The videos have prompted outrage. The police suggested they were doctored and said officers were kicking a “yellow object” as opposed to a person, with Twitter users saying the video appeared to clearly show a human being lying on the ground.

Vasco Williams, the superintendent of New Territories North, said it was difficult to tell what was happening in the video as it was “out of focus” and other footage contradicted it.

“There are videos that show the entire incident where [nothing] happened,” Williams told reporters on Monday. “The genuine online feed showed that there was no assault … Do you think police officers would be that stupid to assault someone under detention?”

Williams said two people had been pulled into the alley by officers in clashes on Saturday, prompting protesters to charge the police. He said one man had been arrested after he pushed a police officer and bit his hand during his arrest.

Clashes between police and protests during the demonstrations, which have lasted more than three months, have grown increasingly violent. More than 1,500 people have been arrested.

In a separate incident on Tuesday, the Democratic party legislator Roy Kwong was taken to hospital after he was attacked by a group of men, according to a Facebook post by a fellow legislator.

Speaking to reporters, Kwong said he was getting into his car in the morning when he was dragged out by three men who began punching and kicking him for about a minute, while a fourth person filmed the incident.

“As a lawmaker … protecting Hong Kongers is our rightful mission. If protecting Hong Kong people means we come under attack, this is an international scandal,” Kwong said. “My wounds hurt a bit, it hurts even to speak … but this pain is nothing compared to the harm that has been inflicted on the people of Hong Kong.”