Policeman Beaten by Angered Citizens

Four Guangdong policemen were beaten by angered citizens who witnessed the police drowned a man who alleged drove an motorcycle without a license.


On March 7, 2008 in Taishan, Guangdong. Four policemen stopped a guy who alleged drove a motorcycle without a license plate. It's quite common in rural area that farmers do not register their motorcycles to save registration fees. The guy fled on foot with police chasing after him. Later he jumped in a river, trying to swim across, but then one policeman got to the other side, and cornered him back to the center of the river. The man got tired after a while, and started yelling for help. There was a fishing boat close by, but the police threatened arresting the fisherman if he dare to rescue the man in water. At the end the man drawn as the fisherman, police and hundreds of people watching. When the head of the man disappeared from the surface, many bystanders (mostly students getting off school) were angered and beat the shit out of the police. Tens of thousands of people protested on the street while thousands of police were sent to the scene in the days to follow.

The dead man was a farmer in Natai Village of Fenrui Township, a 52 years old veteran with a teenage son. A similar incident happened last November in Huzhou, Zhejiang. A driver was chased by police into river and drowned. Thousands protested and burned police vehicles. Although there's no media coverage of such incidents, popular usage of cell phones and video sharing sites make information control an even daunting job for the communism government.