Protesters massed in multiple districts across Hong Kong on Friday night as a knife-wielding man attacked people at a street stall, during the first anniversary of a large demonstration that took place outside the legislature against a now-withdrawn extradition bill.

There was no clear organizer behind the anniversary protests, but a notice shared online had called on people to show up across all 18 districts of the city to attend community-based photo exhibitions about the protests that had happened over the past year.

At the protest exhibition in Kwun Tong, people were leaving the venue at around 9 p.m. when a man in a white shirt launched an attack with a knife, stabbing at least one person. He was subdued by people on the spot and arrested by police.

Siu Kong, a protester who viewed the exhibition in Causeway Bay, said Hong Kongers should continue protesting and develop front lines of their fight internationally to gain other countries’ support.

“Although the world is focused on the black people’s rights movement now, Hong Kongers cannot give up,” she said.

Tang, another protester, said the July 21 incident last year, in which men in white blatantly assaulted passers-by in Yuen Long, was the tipping point for him. “I have never thought the government would use such a dirty move … I am very disappointed,” he said.

“Don’t give up on the movement. Dawn will arrive one day.”

In Causeway Bay, many people held up lighted phones and chanted slogans. Police raised the blue flag as a warning that the protesters would be dispersed with force. Officers then charged into Island Beverly Center and arrested three people from a secondary school activist group.

Police also searched at least 100 people outside Sogo department store. Democratic Party lawmaker Ted Hui urged calm and was warned by officers not to incite further tensions. Hui was briefly released but arrested later.

As people gathered in Mong Kok, Yuen Long and other areas, police quickly set up cordon lines and demanded that people at the scene present their identity cards for checking. Protesters outside the blocked area in Mong Kok chanted slogans including “Dirty cops, your whole family will go to hell!” As riot police were retreating around 10 p.m., water bottles were thrown at them. Officers fired pepper balls in response.

At Yuen Long train station, police issued penalty tickets to people, including the pro-democracy Yuen Long District Council chairperson Zachary Wong, for violating the government’s social gathering ban.

In Wan Chai, dozens of people descended on the intersection of Wan Chai Road and Johnston Road at around 8 p.m., singing the popular protest anthem, “Glory to Hong Kong.” They observed a minute of silence at 8:09 p.m. Police standing nearby monitored the situation without taking action.

In Sha Tin, hundreds sang protest songs at the New Town Plaza shopping mall, a seemingly favorite spot for protesters – many of whom could be residents of the area – to gather and keep the protest movement going.

Last year, in the wake of a protest march of more than one million people on June 9, thousands gathered outside the Legislative Council on June 12 to stop the extradition bill from passing. As Chief Executive Carrie Lam insisted on pursuing the passage of the bill, violent clashes ensued between the protesters and police deploying batons, tear gas and rubber bullets.

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