Photographs of police suppressing a mass protest in Bazhou, Hebei have been making the rounds on Chinese media this week. Although the official version of events is somewhat lacking in news reports, the following account was forwarded by hundreds on Weibo:
At around 4pm on January 21, more than a hundred illegal construction workers converged on Jianshe East Road and, instigated by the MLM [Multi-Level Marketing] leadership, attacked pedestrians and police with stones and bricks. Bazhou PSB [Public Security Bureau] dispatched a number of vehicles and civilian police officers to the scene, where they arrested those that were attacking police.
There is no word as to what exactly the crowd was protesting, how many people were injured, or how many were arrested. The report indicated that some police officers were injured, and a few police vehicles were damaged in the incident.
Caijing offers the following commentary on the below photographs:
“Here, a rioter is resisting a police officer.” (above).
“Here, police are subduing rioters.”
“Here are several rioters lying on the ground after being subdued.”
By the time these last photographs were taken, an emergency respondent was on scene to assist the injured. Police officers can be seen in the picture above (lower left, facing the crowd) and below (top to the left, one of whom is pointing with a white stick).
Although Weibo users were largely sharing news of the protest, some users volunteered their opinion of the protesters:
聆听-哥：
Each and every last one of them should be shot to death.说说看吧585:
What’s up with people nowadays? It’s so easy to be brainwashed.
永远爱尚32:
…afterwards, Bazhou police were dispatched to the scene to firmly arrest the pyramid sellers, much to the satisfaction of everyone!
Here are some other photos of the protest currently circulating online:
Photos: Guangzhou Daily, Weibo, Caijing