Thousands of Hong Kong protesters gather, government offices shut after violent protests

HONG KONG (Reuters) - A few thousand protesters in Hong Kong on Thursday readied for potentially more clashes with police over a planned extradition law with mainland China, a day after police fired tear gas and rubber bullets at unarmed demonstrators.
Some protesters around Hong Kong’s legislature, the epicenter of the violence, rushed to stop police from removing supplies of face masks and food. School children joined the steadily growing crowd, which grew from around 20 protesters early on Thursday to a few thousand by midday.
Uniformed police with helmets and shields blocked overhead walkways, while a long row of police vans were parked nearby. Plain clothes police officers checked identification of commuters.
Hong Kong authorities have shut government offices in the city’s financial district for the rest of the week after some of the worst violence in Hong Kong since Britain handed it back to Chinese rule in 1997.
Police fired rubber bullets, tear gas and pepper spray in a series of skirmishes on Wednesday to clear demonstrators from the city’s legislature. The Hong Kong Hospital Authority said 72 people had been hospitalized by 10 p.m. on Wednesday.