[8][9][10] A mob dressed in white stormed the MTR's Yuen Long station[11][12] and attacked protesters returning from a demonstration in Sheung Wan on Hong Kong Island as well as bystanders.

On 11 July 2019, Lei Gai-ji, head of the New Territories section of Beijing's liaison office, mobilised villages of Yuen Long to evict protestors during the inauguration ceremony of Shap Pat Heung.

Like most other processions since 1 July, it started peacefully but erupted into violent clashes between protesters and the Police outside the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government (LOCPG) in Western District from around 18:30.

[44] In the afternoon, assailants wearing white shirts and armed with sticks and wooden poles gathered in Yuen Long, while a pro-government Facebook page shared a photo of them saying "the villages are ready" and about to "discipline" the protestors.

[49][50] One suspected pregnant woman, wearing a long white dress, was found lying on the floor, but reports of her injuries could not be confirmed by the Hospital Authority.

[51] At around 10:30 pm, about a hundred white-shirted assailants appeared at Yuen Long railway station and attacked commuters in the concourse indiscriminately, on the platform and inside train compartments.

Half a dozen men wearing white shirts and carrying metal rods came forward and intimidated reporters; two riot police chatted with two of them and patted one on the shoulder before letting them go.

[19] It was revealed by RTHK that the police had sent plainclothes officers to monitor the situation prior to the attack, but they did not intervene despite the fact that some of the white-clad men were carrying weapons in front of him.

[71][72] Yuen Long District Council members including Zachary Wong and Johnny Mak had alerted the police on 20 July after they heard rumours from rural groups that a potential triad attack was about to take place.

[21] Many also criticised the fact that police stations in the vicinity of the Yuen Long attacks shut their doors, despite a large group of residents who were there to report crimes.

However, he also defended the mob at a press conference by saying that the incidents were a "normal reaction to protesters who brought violence to the peaceful community after they stormed the liaison office" and also praised them for "safeguarding" their district.

"[88] A number of student bodies and alumni associations had openly condemned both his suspected support of the attack, and what they described as his hate speech which had damaged the image of Lingnan University.

A glass partition was broken, as well as leaving memo that "suggested a link between the violent gangs that carried out the attack the previous day and the police force".

Several people in the group, including lawmaker Lam Cheuk-ting, stated they may appeal for financial compensation of damages in a court of law and file suite against the police and the MTR Corporation.

[100] However, the police issued the Letter of Objection, saying the proposed anti-mob march might 'create serious obstruction to the roads and pose a danger to marchers', after receiving pressure from the rural groups.

[116] In April 2022, activist Max Chung was sentenced to 16 months after having pleaded guilty to organising the unauthorized Reclaim Yuen Long protest of 27 July 2019.

[117] On 21 August 2019, thousands of demonstrators staged a sit-in protest at Yuen Long station to demand justice and to remember the victims of the mob attacks that had occurred exactly one month prior on 21 July.

After the retirement of Stephen Lo, the new police commissioner, Chris Tang, said that the incident only became heated when lawmaker Lam Cheuk-ting arrived at the station stirring up the confrontation.

The police's account aligned with that of Junius Ho's and pro-Beijing group's accusation that Lam intentionally stirred up the conflict, intensified the tense atmosphere and eventually caused a "fight".

Superintendent Kong Wing-cheung later echoed Tang's statement, saying that the attack started because "a group" had led the protesters to Yuen Long, though he later backtracked by saying that it was only his "personal observation".

[121] The police, on the day of Lam's arrest, further changed the account and said that the incident was a clash "between two evenly matched rivals",[122] alleged that the photo evidence and reporter commentary were "one-sided", and that the attack was not indiscriminate.

[124] Fellow lawmaker, Wu Chi-wai, commenting on Lam's arrest, added that "the prosecution is ‘calling a deer a horse’ and twisting right and wrong".

Gwyneth Ho, a former Stand News reporter who was assaulted by one of the white-clad men while livestreaming during the attack, added that any attempt by the police to distort the facts would be futile because the event was among the most live-streamed incidents of 2019.

[130] In February 2021, judge Eddie Yip accused lead prosecutor Anthony Chau Tin-hang of glossing over important facts, such as who started the attacks.

[138] The Foreign Correspondents Club on 22 April strongly criticised the verdict as setting a "dangerous precedent" for "legal action against journalists for engaging in routine reporting".

[10][79] Some politicians, such as Zachary Wong, Councillor of the Yuen Long District Council, accused the mob of being under the influence of the Beijing central government, citing the opinion of a Liaison Office official in an inauguration event of Shap Pat Heung Rural Committee days earlier.

[154] Arthur Shek Kang Chuen [zh], Vice-editor-in-chief of Hong Kong Economic Times and one of the executive directors of its publisher Hong Kong Economic Times Holdings, resigned on 23 July after retracting his personal opinion on encouraging the use of violence on anti-bill protesters; he expressed the opinion during an event supporting police on 20 July, a day before the attack.

[156][157] On 2 August, Labour Party representatives held a protest outside the Government offices demanding that Junius Ho be stripped of his title as a Justice of the Peace.

[162][163] Chief Executive Carrie Lam held a media session at 3 pm on 22 July 2019,[163] first condemning protesters for besieging the Liaison Office in Sheung Wan the night before.

[166] On 26 July, Chief Secretary for Administration Matthew Cheung apologised to citizens and admitted that the police department's response fell short of public expectations.