By 4:00 pm Fu Zhenzhong, the founder of the Hong Kong Defence Movement, and several pro-police protesters were on the scene with the pro-democracy protesters who were holding a sit-in protest. The arrests attracted the attention of the British and American governments and several international human rights organisations and the media. A total of five organisations including the International Bar Association, the Law Society of England and Wales and the International Commission of Jurists issued a statement indicating their concerns over the arrest of the 15 Democrats. They believed the arrests reflected the continued impact of Hong Kong's freedom of expression and right to protest. Former Governor of Hong Kong Chris Patten criticised this as being against the rule of law and the actions of an authoritarian government. U.S. Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, issued a statement condemning the arrests as not being in accordance with the Sino-British Joint Declaration. The Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, said on Twitter that Hong Kong's democracy and human rights continued to be violated, urging the White House to implement the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act. On 23 April, more than 30 members of the European Parliament issued two co-signed open letters condemning the political prosecution of Hong Kong democrats by the Hong Kong government. A government spokesman pointed out that the relevant cases had entered the judicial process and no one should make comments about unfounded speculations. A spokesperson from the Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region expressed strong dissatisfaction and firm opposition to the criticism by the European Parliament, referring to the open letter as "hypocrisy and arrogance on the issue of Hong Kong". In an article that appeared in the "Ming Pao" newspaper, the daughter and friends of an over-50-year-old deceased woman who had suffered from asthma asked the police to disclose the composition of the tear gas that had been used during demonstrations at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. The deceased had been to protests at various locations, including the Chinese University and Polytechnic University, since October 2019. According to witnesses, she wished to protect the younger protesters despite being affected by the tear gas. She was admitted to hospital because of dyspnea, and released later. She died at home on 2December 2019 due to dyspnea. The police insisted their use of tear gas had been safe. At 8:00 pm, more than 20 protesters sat in the atrium of the Yoho Mall and chanted slogans.