On May 1, Edward arrived at the New Town Plaza shopping mall to attend a pro-democracy “singalong” protest. With a crowd of hundreds, it was one of the first large-scale gatherings since the coronavirus pandemic forced Hong Kong into partial lockdown in late January. 

As the numbers grew, people started to chant one of the most popular slogans from the mass demonstrations that have rocked the semi-autonomous city state since 2019: “Five demands and not one less.” Then the police began to line up individuals and search their bags.

At around 7pm, the crowd burst into “Glory to Hong Kong,” the anthem of the 2019 protest movement. It did not take long for hundreds of police officers to break up the gathering — firing pepper spray at the protesters and cordoning off the area — citing the violation of social distancing regulations that ban gatherings of more than four people.

“It is a method of oppression in the name of epidemic prevention,” Edward said.