“It is very clear that this is no longer a peaceful assembly but a public and organized riot,” Carrie Lam, the territory’s chief executive, said in an interview with a local television station. “And it is impossible that this is action that loves and protects Hong Kong.”

She urged the public to help restore order in Hong Kong and to resolve differences peacefully.

Earlier Wednesday and in a separate interview recorded before the protests turned violent, Ms. Lam was steadfast in her commitment to seeing the extradition bill passed and compared the protesters to spoiled children,

“I have never felt a guilty conscience over this,” Ms. Lam said in the interview, which was taped Wednesday morning but aired in the evening after a day of protests. “I continue to hold fast to the belief that it is the right thing to do,” she told the Hong Kong broadcaster TVB, regarding the extradition bill.

In her remarks, she compared the protesters — many of whom are young — to stubborn children who did not know better.

“To draw a comparison, I’m a mother too, I have two sons,” she said. “If my son was stubborn and I spoiled him and tolerated his stubborn behavior every time, I would just be going along with him.”

The widespread public outrage over the bill puts Ms. Lam, who was selected by China’s leaders to govern the territory two years ago, in a delicate position. Backing down risks making her look weak and drawing the ire of her party benefactors, who back the bill, but moving ahead with the vote on the proposal could incite even more protests and unrest.