Police officers conduct searches on 7th anniversary of 2019 Yuen Long mob attack

Police officers searched people at Yuen Long MTR station on Tuesday evening, seven years since white-clad men stormed the concourse and indiscriminately attacked passers-by and protesters returning from a demonstration earlier that day. Plainclothes officers conduct a search at Yuen Long MTR station on July 21, 2026. Photo: Supplied. According to reports by local independent media, about a dozen plainclothes police officers were at the MTR station on Tuesday afternoon. Among those searched by police was activist Lee Ying-chi. Officers searched her bag and found documents inside a folder which read: “What the fuck are you searching for?” Activist Lee Ying-chi (left) at Yuen Long MTR station on July 21, 2026. Photo: Supplied. Tuesday marked seven years after the Yuen Long mob attack on the night of July 21, 2019, when over a hundred white-shirted men stormed Yuen Long MTR Station. The attack, which left dozens injured, marked a watershed in the pro-democracy protests and unrest that year. Police were heavily criticised for their slow response and failing to stop the violence in time. Lee and other people who came to the MTR station on Tuesday evening held watermelons in an apparent reference to one of the alleged mobsters seen seven years ago, a watermelon farmer. MTR staff and plainclothes officers at Yuen Long MTR station on July 21, 2026. Photo: Supplied. Speaking to reporters, she said that many white-shirted men who carried out the attack got off scot-free while those who acted in self-defence were jailed. Official accounts of the attacks changed from conciliatory to defensive in the two years that followed, with the police watchdog eventually framing the incident as a “gang fight.” ‘Why did you turn away’ One man at the station on Tuesday, surnamed Chan, was released after being searched. “Why did you turn away on 721?” he asked in Cantonese, referring to the date of the mob attack. “If any one of you were here, the white shirts wouldn’t have caused chaos, none of it would have happened.” Plainclothes officers conduct a search at Yuen Long MTR station on July 21, 2026. Photo: Supplied. Another man who wore a t-shirt with the words “Uncovering the truth, confronting justice” was also searched by police officers, then let go. Meanwhile, an elderly woman in a black t-shirt displayed printed photos of two officers leaving the station before the 2019 attack. “Where were the police on 721?” she shouted at the police officers on Tuesday. She and a female companion were taken aside and surrounded by five MTR staff for questioning. MTR staff take two women aside for questioning at Yuen Long MTR station on July 21, 2026. Photo: Supplied. To date, a total of 13 white-shirted men have been convicted and sentenced to prison terms ranging from about three to seven years, according to a tally by independent media outlet The Collective. In February last year, former lawmaker Lam Cheuk-ting and six others were jailed for rioting, years after they were attacked by the white-clad mob in 2019. Safeguard press freedom; keep HKFP free for all readers by supporting our team Support HKFP | Policies & Ethics | Error/typo? | Contact | Newsletter | Transparency & Annual Report | Apps Make a one-off donation. James Lee is a reporter at Hong Kong Free Press with an interest in culture and social issues. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in English and a minor in Journalism from the Chinese University of Hong Kong, where he witnessed the institution’s transformation over the course of the 2019 extradition bill protests and after the passing of the Beijing-imposed security law. Since joining HKFP in 2023, he has covered local politics, the city’s housing crisis, as well as landmark court cases including the 47 democrats national security trial. He was previously a reporter at The Standard where he interviewed pro-establishment heavyweights and extensively covered the Covid-19 pandemic and Hong Kong’s political overhauls under the national security law. More by James Lee