With the use of tear gas and rubber bullets, Hong Kong police have managed to clear the area surrounding the Legislative Council building of protesters though many demonstrators have not yet headed home.

According to reports from the scene, by Wednesday evening at around 6 pm, police succeeded in finally driving back the protesters who had surrounded Hong Kong’s parliament building since Tuesday night after the tense stand-off turned scary and violent.

Photos show the once-packed Harcourt Road in Admiralty now completely devoid of protesters with only discarded trash, umbrellas, and helmets remaining on the road.

Police seem to have succeeded in clearing Harcourt Road of protesters by 6 pm, who’ve retreated to the malls nearby; a political problem has been solved using police force instead of civil dialogue #HongKong pic.twitter.com/YDeo0SjRyf — Larry Au (@larryau) June 12, 2019

Harcourt Road in Admiralty is now cleared, protesters pushed back to Central pic.twitter.com/aBFbIpp9VS — Antony Dapiran (@antd) June 12, 2019

Live now pic.twitter.com/y2DS4A8eWM — Kinling Lo 盧建靈 (@kinlinglo) June 12, 2019

However, thousands of those who were dispersed have since moved west to Hong Kong’s Central district where they say they plan to continue the protest. Central is the city’s main business and financial district of the city and is where the iconic protests of 2014 kicked off.

Police are now reported to be moving through the district, attempting to clear the roads of crowds by using tear gas once again.

It’s now night time in central Hong Kong… pic.twitter.com/SWmuKiQGq3 — Lisa Yuriko Thomas (@LYurikoT) June 12, 2019

Hennessy Rd, 7:30pm – police are little by little clearing this major artery through central #Hongkong. Only minutes ago started firing volleys or tear gas again, sending people hurtling towards the Wanchai side. Protestors say they aren’t deterred. Long night ahead pic.twitter.com/wahgS5ULEC — Bill Birtles (@billbirtles) June 12, 2019

#nottochinaextradition standoff for an hour now. at Harcourt Road, Central, Hong Kong pic.twitter.com/QvYxig4zww — Mary Ann (@benitez_maryann) June 12, 2019

Thousands still on the street as protestors pushed toward Central in Hong Kong pic.twitter.com/3hcYYg9ZYt — Joe Phua (@joecsphua) June 12, 2019

The protesters are angry over a proposed policy change which would alter Hong Kong’s extradition laws to allow suspects to be extradited to mainland China. The bill was due for debate in parliament on Wednesday but that meeting has now been postponed because of the protests.