'We are the chosen generation': Hong Kong airport protester says police brutality won't stop them

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Protester Nicholas Chan says the thousands of people who effectively shut down the Hong Kong airport on Monday were motivated by what they say is excessive force by police. 

Flights are set to resume Tuesday after four days of peaceful anti-government demonstrations forced airport authorities to cancel all flights that were not yet checked in on Monday.  

These latest protests come after reports that police used tear gas and rubber bullets inside a train station over the weekend. They follow weeks of demonstrations triggered by a bill, now suspended, that would allow suspects to be extradited to mainland China to face charges.  

Chan, 24, was at the protest on Monday. He spoke to As It Happens guest host Nil Köksal about why he wants to see an investigation into police brutality. Here is part of their conversation. 

What's it like in the airport today?

I went to the airport at around two in the afternoon.

When I arrived there, there's already a lot of people ... all in their black shirts and people are peacefully sitting on the ground. 

And to be honest there were a lot more people than I expected because it's a Monday afternoon so people were supposed to go to work or go to school. But I know a lot of people took it off because of what happened during the last weekend. 

And you were one of those people who wasn't there on the weekend, but felt that it was important you go today. Why did you feel it was so important to be there today?  

The reason why I think a lot of people went out today is because yesterday there was a series of very important and unacceptable incident that happened related to the operation of the police.

First of all, there was a first aid girl who was helping out to take care of the wounded protesters. And she got shot in [her] eye, which as we find out now she is going to be blind permanently. 

And at the same time there is a reporter that found out that actually there were undercover police in the crowd that created the chaos, [who] tried to arrest protesters. And then, as the journalist was questioning them, if they are actually police, they refused to show their badge, which is pretty shady. 

And then also they released tear gas bomb inside a subway station. So it's like a series of crazy stuff that happened in one night. So I think that really causes a lot of anger and a lot of disappointment and a lot of emotions of Hong Kong citizens.

You mentioned how full it was on the ground floor of the airport. What else are we hearing and seeing there? 

To be honest, it was really peaceful because I think a lot of people, they respect the airport as a very important ... international location that really represents Hong Kong. 

But I also observed that there were a lot of tourists coming in the arrival hall because the ground floor is our arrival hall. So actually people split roads for the tourists to pass through and then when they're passing through, the protesters ... were distributing flyers and posters and also leaflets explaining and apologizing to the tourists.

You clearly have the world's attention and you're talking to tourists one-on-one and visitors in the airport there. What's the reaction from them been? 

I can see, like, some of them they are terrified because I don't know if they expected to have such a large crowd waiting for them at the arrival hall. 

And some of them they're nice enough to really ... support us in a way that they say that they understand why we are doing what we are doing. And … they are all for democracy and that they support us in fighting our own rights. 

Some authorities have been using words including "radical" or even "terrorists" to describe the protesters, to describe people like yourself who were at the airport. What's your response to words like that being levelled against you?

This is absolutely not accurate because what I saw and what I was a part of today is definitely not riots.

And when they're referring to terrorists I think they should be referring it to the police, because they are the ones who are over abusing the power.

This has been going on for nearly three months now. Weeks and weeks. How do you feel at this point in the process? 

To be honest, it's very mentally and physically [draining] and because, you know, we go to work on the weekdays and we have to come out on the street to protest on the weekends. 

But at the same time, I think the more that I see more people, I would say, awakened ... the more encouraged that I think I get.

I would say, like, we are the chosen generation. And ... when we are chosen, we are responsible for something. So it comes with a cost, but it's totally worthwhile.

So you're not backing down, clearly, but are you worried that there's going to be an even deeper crackdown by police? 

I think the only resolution is the government really step out and take full responsibility. At the same time, they have to control the police. They have to set up an independent investigation in order to really ... see if they are abusing their power. 

Written by Sarah Jackson. Produced by Jeanne Armstrong. Q&A has been edited for length and clarity.