ROUGH CUT (NO REPORTER NARRATION)
Hong Kong police used tear gas for the first time on Sunday (September 28) to disperse pro-democracy protests and baton-charged the crowd blocking a key road in the government district, after Hong Kong and Chinese officials warned against illegal demonstrations.
The city's Admiralty district had descended into chaos as chanting pro-democracy protesters converged on police barricades surrounding their colleagues who had earlier launched a "new era" of civil disobedience to pressure Beijing into granting full democracy to Hong Kong.
Police, in lines five deep in places and wearing helmets and gas masks, staged repeated pepper spray and baton charges and threw tear gas. The crowds fled several hundred yards, scattering their umbrellas.
Police had not used tear gas in Hong Kong since 2005, to break up World Trade Organization protests against South Korean farmers.
Chanting "remove the blockade" and "shame on you", thousands of
