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進入《TAIPEI TIMES》 Veterans apologize for violence
Members of military veterans’ group 800 Heroes scuffle with a police officer, center, during a protest against pension reform outside the Legislative Yuan in Taipei on Wednesday. Photo: CNA
By Ann Maxon, Jason Pan and Shelley Shan / Staff reporters
A representative of the veterans’ group 800 Heroes yesterday apologized to the media and the public on behalf of demonstrators who attacked journalists and police officers during a protest that began on Wednesday and continued until early yesterday afternoon.
The group has formed a “picket team” to enforce discipline, said 800 Heroes spokesman Wu Sz-huai （吳斯懷）, a retired lieutenant general.
However, people from other groups have been pretending to be 800 Heroes members and causing trouble, he said.
The protest turned violent on Wednesday afternoon when some of the demonstrators began attacking police officers and journalists.
In addition to breaking into the Legislative Yuan compound, some protesters clashed with police in front of National Taiwan University Children’s Hospital near the legislature, making it difficult for patients and ambulances to enter the hospital.
According to statistics provided by the Taipei City Government, a total of 16 journalists and 68 police officers were injured on Wednesday.
Many protesters also used tools to sabotage barbed wire barricades and the Legislature Yuan’s front gates.
Some journalists also had their smartphones and photographic equipment taken from them.
The list of injured journalists included those from the Chinese-language newspapers Apple Daily, China Times and Taiwan People News, the Central News Agency and Up Media, as well as television stations Next TV, ETtoday, Formosa TV, SET TV and CTI TV.
As of yesterday, 57 protesters had been detained by police, Taipei Police Department Deputy Director Huang Chi-tze （黃啟澤） said.
After reviewing videos and other evidence, police were able to identify nine of the detained protesters as the primary suspects.
Police have brought charges against the nine suspects for causing bodily harm, obstructing police officers in the discharge of their duties and other offenses, Huang said.
The cases have been transferred to the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office, police said.
Social commentators Lucifer Chu （朱學恒） and Liu Bao-jie （劉寶傑） said on an EBC TV talk show that they had information suggesting that specific plans were in place to attack media outlets, codenamed “Operation Hunting Down Journalists,” by protesters who had received special operations training during their military service.
“Their aim was to stop any media coverage when storming the Legislative Yuan, to minimize or shut down any recording, filming or photography of their actions. They knew they were engaging in violent and illegal activities, and wanted to stop both the media and police from recording the proceedings, which can be used as evidence in a prosecution,” Chu said.
The Taiwan Media Workers’ Union condemned the violence at the protest and urged media companies to protect their journalists.
“The job of journalists is to record what happened. Protesters should not be targeting them,” union vice president Wang Yen-chieh （王燕杰） said.
新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES
Anti-pension reform group 800 Heroes spokesman Wu Sz-huai, second right, bows at a new conference on Wednesday night to apologize for injuries to police and journalists during a protest in Taipei earlier that day. Photo: CNA
Protesters attempt to prevent a media cameraman from recording the anti-pension reform protest outside the Legislative Yuan on Wednesday. Photo: Huang Yao-cheng, Taipei Times
