Free speech? Hong Kong trial ends in guilty verdict for protester.

For the last four weeks, a court here has deconstructed the last minutes of a motorcyclist’s defiant downtown ride on July 1, 2020, as thousands of people protested in the streets. His ride ended when he crashed into a police cordon and injured three officers.  

For most of the trial, witnesses speculated as to the meaning of the black flag that fluttered from Tong Ying-kit’s motorcycle that read, “Liberate Hong Kong, Revolution of our Time,” a slogan popular during the 2019 protests.  

Had Mr. Tong crashed the day before, he might have faced punishment for reckless driving or endangering police. His ride, though, happened on