Six arrested after Hong Kong protesters smash into government headquarters

A small group of masked protesters stormed Hong Kong's government headquarters in the early hours of Wednesday, using metal barricades and hurling concrete slabs to smash through a glass door, CNN reported.

Other protesters charged police lines, leading to police to respond with pepper spray and batons.

In a statement, the government denounced the acts of the protesters, referring to them repeatedly as "violent radicals." It said six people were arrested, and vowed "further arrests would be made."

The break-in was an uncharacteristically aggressive action by protesters in a movement that has frequently been praised for its politeness. In the previous seven weeks of demonstrations, not a single window of any building had been broken.

Pro-democracy legislator Fernando Cheung, who tried to physically stop the protesters, said it was a "major setback for the movement."