'I'll take the blow for them': the volunteers protecting Hong Kong protesters

Informal group including social workers, pastors, lawyers and medics have banded together to support demonstrators

On Saturday, as Hong Kong braced for another weekend of youth-led mass pro-democracy protests, a group of middle-aged and elderly volunteers prepared for their own rebellion.

Gathered in a metro station, they put on bright yellow vests and fumbled with goggles and gas masks. They listened attentively as an organiser went over tactics for slowing the police down and letting protesters escape: distract the officers by asking for change, to borrow their phone, or even by pretending to faint.