On Saturday, Hong Kong’s leader, Carrie Lam, flanked by 14 wooden-faced officials, condemned the violence and destruction during what she described as a “very dark night.”
In an episode of savage protest the night before, mobs had smashed, clubbed and burned their way across the city. The violence occurred after the government brought emergency regulations into effect in order to ban face masks.
Violence is now a constant in the Hong Kong protests. Mass demonstrations, once peaceful, used to…