June 6, 2007: Two thousand people surround police protecting a city inspector who beat a student in Zhengzhou city, Henan province.
Riots broke out in Zhengzhou city, Henan province, on the evening of June 6. About two thousand students and residents surrounded and shouted at police protecting a city inspector who had beaten a female university student. Five students were arrested.
Many residents captured the event on video with cell phones as police tried to shield the inspector and other policemen. The witness who provided RFA with this video footage tried to post it on a Chinese content sharing Web site but the file was taken down within an hour.
The video shows an exited crowd, yelling "get him out, get him out." The protestors eventually set the police car on fire. The riots lasted until midnight.
The following day, the Zhengzhou city government announced that one city inspector and four policemen were detained, two supervisors were dismissed and four other city inspectors and one policeman received warnings. They also said that the female student who was beaten had been hospitalized and was in good condition. She was vending goods in the street to make extra money when the city inspectors approached her and beat her.