The student groups Hong Kong Federation of Students and Scholarism started protesting outside of the government headquarters on the 22 September, 2014. During the evening of 26 September, there were a group of several hundred demonstrators that broke through a security barrier and had entered the plaza in front of the Central Government Complex. The police then closed off and blockaded it overnight. This caused more protesters to join and surround the police. The standoff between the protesters and police lasted for a day, during which the police started attacking unarmed protesters with shields, batons, and pepper spray. The movement Occupy Central with Love and Peace announced that they would start their civil disobedience campaign with starting immediately.