Police in bust up with fireman over tear gas strike

Police in bust up with fireman over tear gas strike

Riot police on Saturday were filmed manhandling a firefighter in Central who had complained that officers appeared to have deliberately fired tear gas at his truck.



Video footage provided to RTHK by Taiwan’s China Television Company showed a fireman getting out of the fire engine on Queen's Road Central and angrily asking a group of officers why the vehicle had been hit.



But the police, who had been firing multiple rounds of tear gas at protesters in the area, told him they couldn't see exactly where they were shooting.



They then grabbed the lone fireman and shoved him away from the truck and against a wall.



As police surrounded the firefighter, some turned their attention towards journalists at the scene, pushing them away from the fireman and threatening them with pepper spray.



The China Television cameraman was hit with pepper spray as a masked officer repeatedly yelled at him, accusing him of being a “corrupt reporter”.



The cameraman, meanwhile, could be heard arguing back, saying he had not confronted officers or charged any police cordon.



With the video journalist pushed far back from the scene, it was not known what happened afterwards to the firefighter.