Hong Kong Police Arrest Protest Leaders, More Than 100 Others

Police in Hong Kong fired pepper spray and arrested scores of protesters overnight Tuesday into Wednesday as they cleared part of a pro-democracy protest camp, NPR's Frank Langfitt reports.

The Associated Press put the total number arrested at more than 116, including Joshua Wong and Lester Shum, highly visible student-leaders of the protesters.

The camp being cleared was blocking a road in the Mongkok section of the city, a working-class neighborhood, The Associated Press reported, and local media said more than 4,000 officers were employed in the court-ordered removal, which had been requested by the city's taxi drivers.

The main protest camp in the city's downtown still holds more than 2,000 tents, Frank reports, despite the recent removal of a section of the camp that was in front of a major office building.

After two months and with little change, many protesters now agree with the majority of Hong Kong's citizens that the demonstrations should end, Frank reports, but a vocal minority is pushing the movement on.

Protesters pack their belongings Wednesday ahead of an expected clearance by bailiffs and police at a pro-democracy protest site in the Mongkok district of Hong Kong.

Philippe Lopez/AFP/Getty Images