The legislature’s president, Andrew Leung, suspended the meeting minutes after it began and ejected Eddie Chu for holding up a sarcastic placard about a pro-Beijing lawmaker that read “Best Chairperson, Starry Lee.”
A second pro-democratic lawmaker was ejected for yelling after the meeting resumed, and then a third was ejected after rushing forward with a large plastic bottle in a cloth bag that spilled its brownish contents on the floor in front of the president’s raised dais.
"We have wanted to use any method to stop this national anthem law getting passed by this legislature, which is basically controlled by the Chinese Communist Party, because the law is just another way of putting pressure on Hong Kong people,” Chu said outside the chamber.
Lee was recently elected chair of a key committee that sent the anthem bill to the full legislature for consideration. Her election, which the pro-democracy opposition contends was illegal, ended a monthslong filibuster that had prevented the committee from acting on the bill and other legislation.
Chu was carried out by security guards, even as fellow pro-democracy lawmakers protested his removal and tried to stop it.
After the meeting restarted, pro-democracy lawmaker,Ray Chan started yelling as Leung explained his decision to remove Chu, and the legislative president suspended the meeting again and ordered Chan ejected, too.
Other pro-democracy lawmakers surrounded Chan, who then hid under a table, as security officers tried to remove him. He eventually was carried out the officers.
A longer suspension followed the ejection of Ted Hui, who kicked the plastic bottle toward the president’s dais after security officers tussled with him and it fell from his hands.
Members left the chamber, security guards sprayed disinfectant and cleaning workers arrived to wipe the carpet. Then a group of firefighters in full protective gear entered and collected evidence. They appeared to take samples from the floor using swabs.
“I wanted him to taste it, unfortunately it (fell) on the ground because I was hit by security guards,” he said.
