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| 3 Killed, Including 2 Officers, as Thai Police Move In on Protests | |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| BANGKOK — Three people, including two police officers, were killed and at least 59 were injured on Tuesday as antigovernment demonstrators resisted attempts by thousands of riot police officers to dislodge them from the streets surrounding the prime minister’s office. | |
| Protesters, who for the past three months have sought to overthrow the government of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and have blocked elections, remained defiant as thousands of officers cleared away barricades that protesters had erected on a bridge near key government offices. | Protesters, who for the past three months have sought to overthrow the government of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and have blocked elections, remained defiant as thousands of officers cleared away barricades that protesters had erected on a bridge near key government offices. |
| “We insist that we will remain in the seized areas because we don’t want the cabinet and prime minister to return and use their barbaric powers,” said Ekanat Prompan, a former member of Parliament who is a spokesman for the protest movement. | “We insist that we will remain in the seized areas because we don’t want the cabinet and prime minister to return and use their barbaric powers,” said Ekanat Prompan, a former member of Parliament who is a spokesman for the protest movement. |
| Mr. Ekanat, who spoke on Thai television, said protesters were “peaceful and unarmed” and accused the government of using weapons against them. | Mr. Ekanat, who spoke on Thai television, said protesters were “peaceful and unarmed” and accused the government of using weapons against them. |
| But a photographer, Jack Kurtz, was among several witnesses who said he saw a man among the protesters carrying an assault weapon. Mr. Kurtz reported on Twitter that protesters had pushed out photographers when gunfire started and instructed them to stop taking photographs. | But a photographer, Jack Kurtz, was among several witnesses who said he saw a man among the protesters carrying an assault weapon. Mr. Kurtz reported on Twitter that protesters had pushed out photographers when gunfire started and instructed them to stop taking photographs. |
| At least 10 of the injured were police officers, and one of the officers killed had been shot in the head, according to a government spokesman. The Thai news media reported that one protester had been killed, who also had a head wound. Another civilian collapsed and died from internal bleeding, but it was unclear whether it was related to the violence. | |
| The government said that a grenade had been used against the police and that tear gas had been fired by the protesters — not by the police. Photos in the Thai news media showed a badly wounded police officer whose legs appeared to have been injured by an explosion. More than 140 protesters were arrested but, in a sign of the weakened powers of the Thai authorities, one protest leader who had been arrested Tuesday and detained in a police vehicle was later freed, reportedly by protesters. | The government said that a grenade had been used against the police and that tear gas had been fired by the protesters — not by the police. Photos in the Thai news media showed a badly wounded police officer whose legs appeared to have been injured by an explosion. More than 140 protesters were arrested but, in a sign of the weakened powers of the Thai authorities, one protest leader who had been arrested Tuesday and detained in a police vehicle was later freed, reportedly by protesters. |
| Led by a former deputy prime minister, Suthep Thaugsuban, the movement opposing Ms. Yingluck and her brother, Thaksin Shinawatra, a former prime minister, has been part protest, part insurrection. The protesters have powerful allies in the Thai bureaucracy and elites who resent the dominance of the Shinawatra family in politics. Protesters denounce the “dictatorship of the majority.” | Led by a former deputy prime minister, Suthep Thaugsuban, the movement opposing Ms. Yingluck and her brother, Thaksin Shinawatra, a former prime minister, has been part protest, part insurrection. The protesters have powerful allies in the Thai bureaucracy and elites who resent the dominance of the Shinawatra family in politics. Protesters denounce the “dictatorship of the majority.” |
| Both the United States and the European Union have lauded the government for its restraint in handling the protests, which have shut down a number of government offices and blocked major intersections in Bangkok. | Both the United States and the European Union have lauded the government for its restraint in handling the protests, which have shut down a number of government offices and blocked major intersections in Bangkok. |
| The number of protesters has waned in recent weeks, but a core of several thousand remain, including many from southern Thailand, the stronghold of the opposition. | The number of protesters has waned in recent weeks, but a core of several thousand remain, including many from southern Thailand, the stronghold of the opposition. |
| Protesters in southern Thailand were instrumental in blocking the registration of two dozen candidates for the Feb. 2 election, an obstruction that has prevented Parliament from reaching a minimum number of elected representatives. The government is pressing the country’s election commission to hold elections in the obstructed districts as well as fresh voting in areas where protesters blocked people from casting votes. | Protesters in southern Thailand were instrumental in blocking the registration of two dozen candidates for the Feb. 2 election, an obstruction that has prevented Parliament from reaching a minimum number of elected representatives. The government is pressing the country’s election commission to hold elections in the obstructed districts as well as fresh voting in areas where protesters blocked people from casting votes. |