Pro-Hong Kong and Free Tibet Activists Protest During Preseason Nets-Raptors NBA Game
On Friday, several hundred pro-Hong Kong activists staged a protest during a preseason NBA game between the Brooklyn Nets and Toronto Raptors. They were joined by a smaller group of free-Tibet activists.
According to journalist Yashar Ali, activist and film producer Andrew Duncan bought 300 tickets for Hong Kong activists to attend the game at Barclay Arena in Brooklyn. Attempts to contact Duncan were unsuccessful, but the activists all wore black T-shirts that said “Stand With Hong Kong” in bold white letters. Some of them also wore Winnie-the-Pooh costumes; the character has been banned in China because it has been used to mock the country’s president, Xi Jinping.
Meanwhile, the Tibet activists shouted slogans, displayed Tibetan flags and carried signs that said, “Don’t let China buy our silence, people are dying to be free” and “Human rights matter, here and there.”
Footage was later posted on Twitter by Tibet independence activist @lhadon.
BREAKING: Tibet activists protest alongside Hong Kong activists at Nets v Raptors game in NYC. Signs read: "Tsai & LeBron: Morey was right – NBA: Stand for freedom” & “Don’t let China buy our silence, people are dying to be free”. #FreeTibet #StandWithHongKong @dmorey pic.twitter.com/mn6l3BdmzU
— lhadon (@lhadon) October 19, 2019
In a statement released after the game, a representative of the Tibetan activists said they were eventually told to leave by Barclay security. It’s unclear if the Hong Kong activists were ever asked to leave. Representatives for Barclay Arena and the NBA did not immediately respond to requests for comment from TheWrap.
The protests come two weeks after Houston Rockets general manager DarylMorey tweeted in support of the Hong Kong protests. In retaliation, the Chinese government canceled or postponed several NBA preseason events in China. The situation got worse after the NBA offered differing statements, tepidly defending Morey in English, and profusely apologizing in Chinese. Soon after, a bipartisan congressional group that included New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasia-Cortez and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz harshly criticized the league in a statement, saying in part that it is “outrageous that the NBA has caved to Chinese government demands for contrition.”
And on Oct. 9, two pro-Hong Kong protesters were kicked out of a preseason game between the Philadelphia 76ers and the Guangzhou Loong Lions of the Chinese Basketball Association.
Also Read: 'South Park' Declares 'F-- the Chinese Government' in Latest Episode
See more photos below:
1. Producer and activist Andrew Duncan bought 300 tickets to tonight's Nets vs Raptors game and is hosting hundreds of Chinese pro-Democracy activists to protest the NBA.
They're all wearing "Stand With Hong Kong" t-shirts pic.twitter.com/pIcUwSLaPB
— Yashar Ali ???? (@yashar) October 19, 2019
3. Pro-democracy protestors at the Nets game. All wearing “Stand With Hong Kong” t-shirts. pic.twitter.com/RcgVafQ9WN
— Yashar Ali ???? (@yashar) October 19, 2019
5. More photos from the pro-democracy protest at the Nets game pic.twitter.com/uzkF9TbVvG
— Yashar Ali ???? (@yashar) October 19, 2019
Read original story Pro-Hong Kong and Free Tibet Activists Protest During Preseason Nets-Raptors NBA Game At TheWrap
