Video Allegedly Shows Hong Kong Police Officers Beating A Protester In A Dark Corner

A video of police officers allegedly beating a pro-democracy protester in Hong Kong has triggered a fresh round of demonstrations in the city controlled by China.

The footage was captured by a local news station, TVB, early Wednesday morning and appears to shows officers kicking a protestor, identified as Ken Tsang Kin-chiu, in a dark corner while his hands are handcuffed, Reuters said.

Tsang is a social worker and member of one of Hong Kong's largest pro-democracy political parties, the Civic Party, according to various media reports.

The incident, which happened after police used pepper spray to break up demonstrators blocking a road tunnel, led to six officers being relieved of their duties, the department said in a news conference Wednesday evening, The New York Times reports.

According to the Times, TVB said the beating lasted 4 minutes, although the video clips is under a minute.

The Wall Street Journal quoted Tsang's lawyers as saying, "the marks on his body show some sort of tools or weapons were used. Now he is in hospital and he has to do a full body scan to see if he has any internal injuries, especially on his back."

The police beating video could renew support for the protestors, the WSJ points out, as pro-democracy riots have started to fizzle out into the third week.

The video is below, courtesy of WSJ: