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Hong Kong officials aim to stop the ongoing protests by banning face masks, which the protestors use to maintain anonymity. Banning the masks won’t stop them, however, since they can use laser pointers to stop facial recognition software.

Several weeks ago, police attempted to ban Hong Kong protestors from demonstrating, but the protestors defied police and marched anyway, which led to violence. The protestors’ continued to defy police until the situation reached a fever pitch and police shot a protestor with a live round. The victim was a teenager, whom the police shot in the shoulder. According to the police, the victim was conscious when he was transported to the hospital.

The protestors’ unwillingness to back down may lead to more extreme violence. China has doubled the number of troops in Hong Kong, bringing the number of troops to somewhere near 12,000. It is difficult to tell the exact number of troops, however, because China disguised their entry. Since China took control of Hong Kong in 1997, it has regularly rotated troops through the reason, with a steady level of around 6,000 being the norm. But last month, observers noticed, more troops came in as per usual but none left.

As Hong Kong attempts to crack down on the protests, it’s bound to backfire.

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