Henry Fung, 17

A high schooler and antigovernment protester who believes forceful tactics are needed

I haven’t really protested before, not even in marches, but I feel that if I don’t do something to protect freedoms I ought to have, I may never recover them again. We want to be peaceful, but under oppression, we need to resist.

We do what peaceful protesters don’t dare to do. Only after we’ve occupied a street or a building do they feel that it’s safe to come out and sit there as well. When I walk to the front, I’m scared. I prepare myself mentally that I may get hurt and even arrested.

My brother supports me, but he can’t join the protests because of work. My father found out because my school called him when I skipped exams on June 12. He would say that it’s dangerous, and that protesters who are in front, hitting the police, are rioters, and to tell me not to be like them. I feel that that’s unfair to them, but I wouldn’t get angry at him.