On 4 September 2009, three Hong Kong journalists were tackled and detained by paramilitary police while filming a disturbance. According to the Foreign Correspondent's Club of China, the reporters were punched and kicked by the police, then detained face-down on the ground with their hands tied behind their backs for up to 20 minutes. Their pleas to the armed police to check their central government-issued press identification cards were ignored.[16] The reporters complained of being handcuffed and detained for three hours.[17] The Xinjiang authorities blamed the journalists for inciting the disturbance, saying they were "not acting appropriately, for example gesturing to the crowd";[17] they however, regretted the "alleged beating".[16] The spokesman said: "Of the three journalists, only one had a temporary press card that allowed him to conduct interviews in the city, but the other two didn't.