Protests
About 500 middle school students had gone to protest at the public security bureau, but they were turned away and beaten. Rumors have been circulating that he girl's uncle, a local teacher, was beaten when he questioned the police and the uncle died from his injuries at the local hospital but this was not confirmed. This roused an angry mob of thousands of people, who began overturning cars and setting fire to government buildings, including the local Communist party headquarters. The Associated Press reported "30,000 angry citizens swarmed the streets". The riot lasted 7 hours with 150 people injured. About 160 office buildings and 40 cars were torched.
Read more about this topic: 2008 Weng'an Riot