Police arrested dozens and fired pepper spray to disperse hundreds of protesters that took to the streets in Hong Kong to mark the one-year anniversary of a landmark rally that kicked off the city’s anti-government movement.

Protesters had first gathered in Central, Hong Kong’s finance district, on Tuesday evening, raising and waving their lit-up phone screens as they walked down major roads, forming a sea of light amid a heavy police presence.

Police warned that protesters were taking part in unauthorized assemblies and asked them to leave as it also increased the risk of spreading the virus during the ongoing pandemic, a statement read.

At around 7:30 p.m, riot police rushed forward at protesters, deploying pepper spray and making arrests.

As of 11pm, reports from the scene said police had arrested at least 25 people for unauthorized assembly. One of the arrested included a medical aid volunteer wearing a neon vest. The number of arrests totalled at 53.

Among several rounds of dispersal operations, scenes became chaotic as police fired pepper spray and charged at protesters waving flags and chanting slogans.

Earlier, police said protesters had blocked multiple lanes in Central, paralyzing traffic and posing threat to road safety.

The protest marks the one-year anniversary of a landmark rally in which organizers said an estimated 1.3 million people took part in. The turnout at the protest, triggered by a legislation proposal that would have allowed criminal suspects to be extradited to China, was then a record high since the city’s sovereignty was transferred from the United Kingdom to China in 1997.

The government shelved the extradition bill, but protests since then have evolved into a wider anti-government movement that has persisted for a year.

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