Chinese police fired tear gas on Monday at hundreds possibly thousands of protesters who had taken to the streets of Shifang, a city located in China's Sichuan province, to protest a molybdenum copper project.

Many protesters soon started posting on Twitter and Weibo, the Chinese equivalent of Twitter, photos and videos of the demonstration, including graphic pictures of protesters injured by Sichuan riot police. Photos showed security forces beating and pushing to the ground unarmed protesters.

According to activists dozens of protesters have been injured.

Despite photos showing protesters receiving medical care, an employee at the emergency room of Shifang People’s Hospital told the Wall Street Journal that not many had sought treatment as a result of the protest.

According to WSJ, the search term “Shifang” quickly became the most-searched term on Weibo with users expressing support for the protesters.

Photos via @米帥V5, @ny_Louis_chen