US lawyer jailed in scuffle with Hong Kong police officer

A U.S. lawyer on Tuesday was sentenced by a Hong Kong court to more than four months in prison after getting into a scuffle with a police officer.

The court ruled on an incident that occurred in 2019 in which the lawyer, Samuel Bickett, got into an altercation with a plainclothes officer, who was not named, during a pro-democracy protest, according to Bloomberg.

Bickett was charged with one count of assaulting a police officer and was found guilty and denied bail last month. He was sentenced to four months and two weeks in prison on Tuesday, the outlet noted.

Magistrate Arthur Lam told Bloomberg that Bickett’s actions were a “serious threat to public order,” adding that the lawyer was given an extra two weeks in his sentence because he could have incited others to violence at the time given that the scuffle occurred in a crowded area.

Hong Kong saw a surge in violence during its pro-democracy protests in 2019, with police designating the events as reaching “life-threatening” levels at one point. Last year, Beijing imposed a national security law on the city and revamped its election system in response, Bloomberg reported.

Several Hong Kong residents have reportedly considered leaving the city, according to a survey by the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong. Nearly 40 percent of residents surveyed said that they might leave, with Singapore being a popular alternative, according to Bloomberg.