The city’s leader, Carrie Lam, condemned the acts in an early morning news conference. We’ll bring you live updates here.

Details: At the Legislative Council Building, a group of veteran politicians sympathetic to the protesters pleaded with them not to break in, but a small group of activists stormed the building, spray painting the walls of the inner chamber and defacing portraits. Some even raised a British colonial-era flag in a repudiation of Chinese rule.

The escalation shocked many in the city, divided the movement and raised fears that Beijing would use it as justification to tighten control.

Perspective: The decision to break into the Legislative Council building was “a symbol and a provocation, a test,” writes one protester in an Op-Ed.

Another angle: Many Western-educated Chinese professionals who travel and can see the global internet say the protesters foolishly value individuals’ rights over economic prosperity.