Protesters set up barricades on the streets of Tsuen Wan in Hong Kong on Sunday. Photo: Cui Meng/ GT

Two young protesters were arrested on Monday bringing the tototal number of arrests to 883,   Hong Kong police said at a press conference Tuesday as street violence continued to escalate.  

Police have arrested a young man, 19, for assaulting police, and a young woman the same age for unlawful assembly during Monday's protest outside the Sham Shui Po police. 

The police also charged another man on Monday for illegally blocking roads and attacking the police in Sunday's protest in Kowloon Bay.

Kong Wing-cheung, senior superintendent of the Hong Kong police department's public relations office, said at the press conference that since June 9, police have arrested 883 protesters, 136 of whom have been prosecuted, and 205 police officers have been injured.

The so-called peaceful protests continue to evolve into violence affecting daily life of the vast majority of city residents, Tse Chun-chung, chief superintendent of Police Public Relations Branch, said. 

"The protesters have deviated from their original demands. Their extreme and radical actions that know no boundaries have jeopardized people' right to peaceful protests," Tse said, adding that the protesters are using potentially lethal weapons including bricks and Molotov cocktails.

"There are more and more innocent victims, including civilians, suffering at the hands of radical protesters," Tse noted, calling for the public not to rationalize or glorify violence.

The police said they have received an application for a large-scale rally on Saturday, and they are assessing the risks involved. 

The police said they respect the public's right to express opinions in a peaceful way and refused to disclose possible deployment tactic in advance of the protest.