Tibet Activists Protest Near the Olympic Park

I shot the above video around 12:30 p.m. Wednesday outside the Chinese Ethnic Culture Park, where a small group of Tibet activists were holding a demonstration. (Here’s my piece today for time.com on Olympic protests.) The first attempt at unfurling a banner on the overpass was apparently a diversionary tactic, so the other demonstrators could barricade themselves behind a row of bikes at the park’s entrance. It was a pretty small affair, the sort of thing one would ignore on the streets of New York or London. But because this is Beijing during the Games the police took it pretty seriously. I will give them credit for at least giving the demonstrators a brief window to say their piece, though possibly that was because the cops were just deciding what to do. After about 10 minutes the protesters were all bundled away. One journalist did get detained too, apparently because the police confused him for a protester. Near the end of the clip you can see security guards trying to drag away a photographer who they release once they realize a journalist. Seven of the demonstrators have already been deported and are on a flight back to the U.S., while there was no word yet from the eighth as of last night.