The violent assault on the Hong Kong Epoch Times printing plant was “appalling, but not unexpected,” given the dwindling freedom in the city, according to former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. “The Chinese Communist Party continues to demonstrate they will not honor their agreement on the freedom of the people of Hong Kong,” he said in a statement to The Epoch Times. “The United States should send a clear message that continuing to oppress the people of Hong Kong and eroding their freedoms, particularly the freedom of the press will not be tolerated.” Around 4 a.m. on April 12, four masked men wielding sledgehammers broke into the printing shop. They smashed printing press equipment and threw construction debris, damaging multiple computers and the printing press’s central control panel. The intrusion, which lasted about two minutes, forced the Hong Kong Epoch Times to temporarily stop printing just days before prominent local …