Activists Adopt Pepe Memes in Hong Kong Protests

The controversial meme character Pepe the Frog has been adopted by demonstrators in Hong Kong opposing legislation that would allow extradition from the special administrative region to mainland China.

Over the weekend, a young woman was injured after being struck in her right eye during an anti-extradition bill demonstration. Video of the woman was widely circulated online, leading protesters to cover their right eyes with bandages as a sign of solidarity, according to the Straits Times.

Disturbing image. A woman got hit in her eye by projectile fired from the #TsimShaTsui police station. Reports said it was a bean bag round that went through her goggles. Online sources said her eyeball has burst & she might be permanently blind in one eye. #HongKongProtests pic.twitter.com/fuY2Ebvo53

— Frances Sit (@frances_sit) August 11, 2019

On Tuesday, a photograph of the woman holding a sign featuring a depiction of Pepe along with the words "Police Shot My Eye" reached the front page of Reddit, where many noted the illustration's similarity to the popular PepeHands Twitch emote.

Numerous photographs of other Hong Kong protest signs, in which Pepe is often shown wearing a yellow hard hat, surfaced online as well, leading some to claim that the character has become a "resistance symbol" among anti-extradition bill activists.

Protesters are using pepe as a resistance symbol in HK. pic.twitter.com/Sr651PPBuH

— Lulu🌈🍔⚡💪 (@luulubuu) August 14, 2019

During the 2016 United States presidential election, Pepe became widely associated with the alt-right following the circulation of racist depictions of the character, leading the official Hillary Clinton presidential campaign blog to publicly condemn the meme as a "symbol associated with white supremacy."

In a post submitted to /r/HongKong earlier this month, Redditor Chocobean claimed that Pepe was "not at all associated" with Donald Trump or white supremacy in Hong Kong, while calling for viewers to "take back" the character from those who would use it for distasteful purposes.