In a small town located in central China, a crowd of people clashed with paramilitary police. Although these kind of disputes have broken out in the past, this time the protesters had local government employees showing up to show their dissatisfaction with the city of about 620,000 people.

During the protest, the Yonglong Hotel was set on fire. This happened late Friday night after the death of 24 year old chef Tu Yuangao. This man’s family refused to accept the explanation that was given to them by the hotel management that Tu had committed suicide by throwing himself out the window.

By the time Saturday rolled around, the confrontation had grown into a mass incident after the alleged rape of a teenage girl was found in Weng’an. This incident helped to spark even more riots. Videos of this protest have been posted on YouTube and show thousands of paramilitary police marching with their riot shields over their heads. However, many times the police would have to break into a very hasty retreat as the crowd would pelt them with stones.

During the riot, many police were injured after the crowds started to arm themselves with bricks and beer bottles. In response to these weapons, the police choose to arm themselves with water cannons to help break up the crowds of people.

Government officials had approached the crowds and asked them to leave. To show a sign of the seriousness of the incident, the provincial Communist party officials also came to the scene. By the time Sunday morning came around, the police were able to retake the streets and what remained of the hotel.

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