Protests turn violent in China after student falls to his death

Violent protests recently erupted in Shaanxi Province, China, triggered by the death of a teenage student, which led to public accusations of an official cover-up. According to videos verified by CNN, dozens of protesters confronted a line of riot police outside the Pucheng Vocational and Technical School, with some protesters throwing sticks and other objects at the police.

In the video, a protester is seen throwing a fire extinguisher at a door, causing the glass to shatter. In response, police used heavy-handed tactics against the demonstrators, beating some and pushing others to the ground. The catalyst for the protest was the death of a senior high school student surnamed Dang at the school. The local government of Pucheng claimed that Dang's death on January 2nd was an accident, not a criminal case, but allegations of an official cover-up have circulated on social media.

Chinese authorities have been vigilant about public protests, especially after the "White Paper Movement" in late 2022 against Beijing's strict pandemic policies. An investigation statement posted on the Pucheng County government website stated that Dang had a "verbal and physical altercation" with a junior student surnamed Guo for "disturbing rest." That night, a school official helped resolve the dispute. The statement also said that around 3 a.m., another student in Dang's dormitory went to the bathroom and found a wooden stool under the balcony window, "the sliding window was open, and the metal mesh screen had been removed. Dang had fallen to the ground from the window."

The U.S.-based activist organization "Human Rights in China" reported that there were "suspicious circumstances" surrounding Dang's death, including eyewitness accounts that there were "signs of a fight in Dang's dormitory" and suggesting he was "pushed off the roof." The organization stated that Dang's family refused to accept the official explanation of his death. According to Reuters, the family also claimed that photos on his phone had been deleted. The family's doubts have been widely circulated on social media. It is unclear whether the protests, which began on Monday, continued throughout the week.

CNN made multiple calls to the Public Security Bureaus of Pucheng County and Weinan City (to which Pucheng County belongs), but received no response.