[15] The relationship between the Hong Kong Police Force, and the general public also became strained due to a number of controversies, including the beating of protester Ken Tsang by seven plainclothes officers in Admiralty, the indiscriminate clubbing of members of the public by superintendent Franklin Chu in Mong Kok during the 2014 protests and the police's refusal to prosecute the offending officers.

Hong Kong Indigenous, a localist camp party formed in early 2015, had previously been involved in violent clashes with police in several anti-parallel trading protests.

Despite operating without licence, the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) had, in the past, not taken action against hawkers during the Lunar New Year holidays.

[19] During the Chinese New Year period in 2014, FEHD staff conducted surprise inspections at Kweilin Street Night Market making arrests and confiscating stalls causing some public disquiet.

[20] In November 2014, Sham Shui Po District Council, passed a motion of "zero tolerance" towards unlicensed hawkers for the upcoming Chinese New Year.

[25][26] On the evening of 7 February, Chinese New Year's Eve, tens of hawkers began setting up stall in Kwelin Street night market but were chased away by the FEHD.

Hong Kong Polytechnic University Sociology lecturer and activist Lau Siu-Lai, acted in deliberate defiance of the FEHD and was arrested.

There was disquiet over her arrest at the scene, and a number of protesters immediately went to picket the Sham Shui Po Police Station where she was held.

Hong Kong Indigenous called for action online to shield the hawkers, and by around 9 pm a few hundred had gathered and verbally assaulted the FEHD officers.

[33] A total of 61 people were arrested,[2][34][35] including Edward Leung, spokesman of the Hong Kong Indigenous and candidate for the Legislative Council by-election.

A group of men dressed in dark jackets with "manager" (管理員) printed on the backs were reported to be acting, according to residents and hawkers, in an intimidating manner nightly since 2 February.

[42] On 11 February, more than two days after the unrest, a Foreign Ministry spokesman stated that the "riot [was] plotted mainly by local radical separatist organisation ...

"[43] Director of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in Hong Kong Zhang Xiaoming, branded participants as "radical separatists" who were "inclined toward terrorism.

"[44] The People's Liberation Army released a statement holding "individual local radical separatist organisation(s)" responsible for the riot as well as criticising western media for "beautifying the unrest" in its early reports.

[10] The police released a statement released at 3:23 am on 9 February, strongly condemning the clashes in Mong Kok, and defending its "resolute actions" including the deployment of batons, and pepper spray to stop "unlawful violence acts," and vowed "resolute enforcement actions will be taken against any illegal acts to preserve public order and safeguard public safety.

"[10] The Hong Kong government condemned the protests, saying "mobs have taken part in a riot in Mong Kok, attacking police officers on duty and media covering the incident at the site" in a statement.

"[46] Then Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying justified the police firing of warning shots, as the rioters had attacked policemen who were already injured and lying on the ground.

[47] Yau Tsim Mong District Council chairman Chris Ip Ngo-tung, a DAB member, also condemned the violent actions, stating his belief that the people of Hong Kong "would not agree with such barbarian acts."

[49] Seven local university student unions issued statements condemning police violence and declaring their support for those who took part in the protests in Mong Kok.

The Hong Kong University Students’ Union (HKUSU) issued a statement entitled "Forever we stand with the rebels", pledging that they "shall never turn our back on or leave them alone and unassisted.

[50] The Student Union of the Chinese University of Hong Kong criticised police action and said that the fire of resistance had been ignited by Chief Executive Leung Chun-Ying.

[52] Wong questioned the rapidity of the police arrests on this occasion compared with the apparent stalling in prosecuting the officers accused of beating Ken Tsang during the Umbrella Revolution.

[52] Ray Wong, convenor of Hong Kong Indigenous who also took a role in the early stage of the protests, disagreed with Leung Chun-Ying framing the clashes as a "riot", stating that protestors were only helping the hawkers to do business until the police rushed into Shantung Street at midnight.

[54] Hong Kong social media users took to Twitter using the hashtag #fishballrevolution, in reference to the popular street food commonly sold by hawkers.

[63] On 10 February, Derek Lam (林淳軒), a 22-year-old member of Scholarism, was arrested by the police at the Hong Kong airport while en route to a vacation in Taiwan with his family.

A number of items that police deemed were offensive weapons, including 18 knives, wooden batons, metal rods, water pipes, surgical masks, work gloves, Walkie-talkies, a toy gun and bottles of liquid and crystallised chemicals of unknown composition were seized.

However, the environmental protection group "Oh Yes It's Free" – which operates the warehouse aiming to categorising rubbish and recycling it – protested that those arrested were innocent and the confiscated articles were donations they had received from the public.

[66][67] On 11 February, police raided the home of Hong Kong Indigenous convener Ray Wong in Tseung Kwan O but did not find him.

[70] The Hong Kong government flatly rejected holding an independent inquiry into the civil unrest, and its official statement caused controversy.

Junior Police Officers’ Association chairman Joe Chan Cho-Kwong appealed to the Legislative Council to back the use of "new model weapons and gears", including water cannons to maintain public order.