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PART III THE DISTURBANCES
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p.m. and started to process along the road in an easterly direction, where they were met by Mr. FERGUS, Superintendent of Police in charge of Yau Ma Tei. He he had been warned of their coming and had a platoon of his company with him.
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At this time, they were followed by no more than 30 or 40 people although the crowd was growing. Mr. FERGUS asked if they had a permit, and, receiving a >r negative reply, said that he could not allow them to continue in procession but that they could stand at the side of the road, provided they caused no obstruction. Within a short time there was a crowd about them of over 500 people. Mr. FERGUS told the four leaders that they could not continue to cause an obstruction of this r. nature. He found them polite and they readily accepted an offer from him to take e them in a land-rover to the Star Ferry where they could return to Hong Kong. d It seems, however, that this action gave the impression to some in the surrounding n crowd that they were being arrested. One man, indeed, came up and inquired if s this was so. Mr. FERGUS said 'No' but went on to tell us he had reason to believe r that this man nevertheless took part in subsequent developments outside Yau Ma Tei Police Station. Mr. FERGUS said that, on his way back to the Yau Ma Tei Police Station, he came up Nathan Road and found it, he thought, normal in atmosphere, but very crowded, although the crowds had not yet reached the peak associated with cinema time. He got back to Yau Ma Tei Police Station about 8.40 p.m. and five minutes later, a crowd appeared in Public Square Street moving westwards towards the Station. He estimated it to be about 300 strong and there was, he said, a lot of shouting: a sort of roar such as one would get at a football match. The crowd, consisting mainly of young boys and young men between 15 and 25 } years of age, had no banners but it was menacing, with its angry roar, so Mr. FERGUS initiated the precautions known as 'attack on station' and took his com- pany outside and ordered a baton charge on the crowd. This was effective, the crowd breaking up and scattering into side streets before the Police actually made contact with it. The area was cleared in about 17 minutes. Other evidence indicated that this crowd had formed because, after being incited to believe that the four young men had been arrested unlawfully, it had been urged to march on the station and demand their release.
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131. Incident in Nathan Road. This was really the first incident of the even- ing with overtones of violence but more trouble was brewing. At 9.42 p.m. Mr. FERGUS took his whole company out on patrol, and when moving down Nathan Road, opposite Princess Theatre, he found a crowd of about 500 persons, very similar in age to the one that had appeared in Public Square Street, but they were led by a youngster in front carrying a banner (the origin of this group is described in para. 133 below). Mr. FERGUS wheeled across the road to come up beside this crowd and he said there was a good deal of jeering from it and an inevitable traffic jam occurred. He asked the banner bearer if he had a permit for the procession and the boy immediately began yelling "They are persecuting us'. The area was very crowded at the time, as the cinema crowds were coming out,