Hong Kong pro-democracy protesters came back to the streets on Sunday for a series of marches and rallies after a rare period of calm in nearly six months of unrest.

There are three events planned for the day that included a march to the US consulate to thank American leaders for legislation backing the city’s protest movement.

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Sunday’s demonstrations come after brief skirmishes erupted overnight, with a man assaulted as he tried to clear barricades and police firing tear gas for the first time since November 24 district council elections that saw pro-democracy candidates win a landslide.

The march will reiterate the movement’s five demands, which include direct elections for the city’s legislature and leadership, and a probe into alleged police brutality against demonstrators.

An organiser of the Sunday rally wrote on the Reddit-like LIHKG forum that,”I just want to remind everyone that despite the small victory in district council election, we must not forget why we started all this and we must return to our main theme — reclaim Hong Kong, revolution of our times; five demands, not one less”.

Police have issued permits called “letters of no objection” for all three events, including a morning rally for children and seniors which went ahead without incident, and the post urged people to remain peaceful.

Late on Saturday, police fired three rounds of tear gas for the first time since the elections, after protesters blocked roads in the Mong Kok neighbourhood.

Earlier on Saturday, China accused UK human rights chief Michelle Bachelet of “inappropriate” interference in the country’s affairs after she called for investigations into alleged excessive use of force by police in Hong Kong.

Hong Kong’s protests started nearly six months ago in June against proposals to allow extradition to mainland China, a move many feared would undermine the city’s judicial independence and endanger dissidents.

In 2018, the Hong Kong government had disqualified the candidacy of another pro-democracy activist, Agnes Chow, for the Legislative Council by-election in March of the same year due to her stance on advocating self-determination for the former British colony.

The controversial China extradition bill was withdrawn in early September but the movement has morphed into a wider campaign for greater democracy and against alleged police brutality.

(With inputs from agency)