It should be noted that there are almost certainly agent provocateurs embedded within the protestors. It would be unlikely that the CCP wouldn't take this step given their other overt displays of force and seeming giddiness to make an example of the protestors that they wouldn't take the extra step to make the protestors look as bad as possible.

That's a stretch, especially since it didn't happen in some isolated corner. They beat him up in front of a mass group of legitimate protesters who did not stop them. Even if the provocateurs are the ones who initiated the "legitimate" protesters are complicit too and probably joined in. I was in full support of the HK protesters, but not I'm worried they are turning into a dangerous mob.

I mean, what do you expect after 2 months of peaceful protests and no indication of any shift in policy?

I’m just quoting here, but this has seemed incredibly appropriate to these protests:

Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.

When some of those protesters broke into the legislative council of HK, threw China' flags into the ocean, swung US/UK flags, beat up random drivers on the street.

They don't need the CCP to make them look bad.

How do these actions look bad to you, apart from "beat up random drivers"? And where you see the news of beating up random driver?

Does this action look bad to you? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdxXCTpHARQ&list=LLFo7VgFlg9...

It does. That's why a lot of Hong Kongers stopped him to do so.

I think people overindex on this. It really isn’t surprising. People are protesting what they perceive as their government betraying them. That’s a huge claim and people are really angry. People are people. And angry people do angry things. If the government doesn’t cooperate with the people, they will get angrier and it will get worse. That is just what happens. The social contract takes both sides, and yes, it’s often random people who don’t deserve the fallout who get hurt as a result of not abiding by the social contract.

But it’s extremely myopic to think that protestors are the ones accountable for all the trouble. To people not immediately affected by the governments decision, it is far too easy to miss the fact that it’s the government throwing not just the first punch but many many more before you see this kind of thing happen