January 11, 2008
Hubei man killed for recording protest with his camera phone
A story has sparked outrage throughout the Chinese blogosphere and revived talks of disbanding the chengguan - the urban pseudo-police force used to scare away migrant workers and DVD salesmen.
Shangailist reports.
"Clashes started last Monday over a failed promise by the city government to move a garbage dump away further away from a residential area. About fifty or so chengguan (城管) or 'city managers' were called in to control the crowd.
Wei Wenhua, a manager at a local government-owned construction company with no apparent connection to the protest, was driving through the area when he stopped to get a better look. At this point he took out his camera phone and began recording the incident.
Once the chengguan noticed his presence, he was yanked out of his vehicle and then brutally beaten unconscious over a period of ten minutes. He was carted off, along with other injured protesters, and died en route to the hospital."
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