Epoch Times reported that as many as 70,000 residents from Shishou City, Hubei Province protested in the streets and clashed with the police several times on June 19 and June 20. About ten thousand riot police were called in and conducted forced clean-up at 3 a.m. on June 21. The confrontations between the riot police and residents were recorded on mobile phone videos and still images appeared on websites.
The uprising was triggered by the mysterious death of Mr. Tu Yuangao, a 23-year-old cook at the Yonglong Hotel. It was reported that Mr. Tu was killed after finding out that the hotel owner, the head of the local public security bureau, and the wife of the head of the court were smuggling and selling drugs. Local residents went to the hotel to support Mr. Tu’s family’s request for a fair investigation. They stopped the police several times from forcibly taking Mr. Tu’s body.
China censored all reports about this incident on the Internet. On July 20, the article China News Agency published instead was titled “Several Departments in Shishou City, Hubei Province Held a Joint Commuter Bus Fire Drill.”
Source:
[1] Epoch Times, June 20, 2009
http://epochtimes.com/gb/9/6/20/n2564437.htm
[2] Epoch Times, June 21, 2009
http://epochtimes.com/gb/9/6/21/n2564903.htm
[3] China News Agency, June 20, 2009
http://www.chinanews.com.cn/sh/news/2009/06-20/1742317.shtml