It’s the incident that has brought Hong Kong’s protests into sharp focus.
Shocking video has emerged of police tapping an elderly protester on the shoulder and turning him around, before aiming a can of pepper spray right in his face.
The footage was posted online by Hong Kong radio station MM, which has been covering the mass protests that have paralyzed the city for the last week.
The video shows police pushing back crowds in a violent clash, before the lone protester emerges in what seems like an effort to calm people down, while wiping his eyes.
However, once he gets close enough, a member of the police taps him on the shoulder. When he turns around to look, he is hit with a spray right in the eye.
So far, the footage has been shared more than 11,000 times on Facebook and made headlines around the world.
The protests are now in their sixth day, with demonstrators threatening to occupy government buildings unless the chief executive resigns.
Meanwhile, the Chinese government faces a major dilemma over what to do and appears to be losing patience. China’s Communist Party-run People’s Daily warned of “unimaginable consequences” if the protests persist.