Mob Violence Against Falun Gong Worsens in Absence of Police

FLUSHING, New York City—About forty Falun Gong practitioners were surrounded on Main Street in front of the Flushing Library Saturday evening between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. by a large, angry mob. According to eyewitness reports and Epoch Times reporters on the scene, the mob was emboldened by the absence of the police, who have been intervening in attacks against Falun Gong practitioners since they started on May 17.

"Essentially [Falun Gong] practitioners were handing out materials here and there," said Neil Luo, a 43 year-old Falun Gong practitioner from Boston who witnessed the scene. "These mobs, there were hundreds of them, at least 200-300 of them."

The mob violence and harassment targeting Falun Gong practitioners in Flushing started on May 17 when the Service Center for Quitting the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) held a rally outside the Flushing Library to honor the millions of Chinese who have quit the CCP and to encourage others to do the same. Volunteers, including Falun Gong practitioners, have been staffing the Quitting the CCP information booth in Flushing for several years.

On the night of May 31, at about 8 p.m., police broke up a crowd that had surrounded practitioners, separated everybody, and created a barricaded area for Falun Gong practitioners, about 30–40 in number. On both sides of the barrier, the hostile crowd waved Chinese flags and screamed insults and chants at Falun Gong.

About 45 minutes later, the police took Falun Gong practitioners to the Botanical Gardens by bus for their protection. The practitioners were later returned to Flushing upon their own request.

The daily attacks have been well planned and orchestrated, and tactics change on a daily basis. Some of those instigating the attacks and encouraging people on the street have been linked to the New York Chinese Consulate, whose Consul General has been personally implicated.

A 45-year-old man from Beijing who witnessed the hostile crowd from across the street said on May 31 said that he came to see the situation for himself. According to the man, who did not wish to be identified, he is now convinced that the attacks have been well organized.

"They [those attacking Falun Gong] are just like a mob," said the man. "A few days ago, I read in Dajiyuan [Chinese-language edition of The Epoch Times ] that this was organized by the Consulate, and I didn't believe it. So I decided to come to Flushing to check it out for myself. It is definitely organized by the Consulate. Listening to the people, I know it is definitely organized by the Consulate."

Some of the violence is being aggravated and encouraged by well-placed individuals among crowds of Chinese. On Sunday, an unidentified Chinese man, standing among a large crowd of Chinese on Sanford and Kissena Streets, described how he had attacked a female Falun Gong practitioner the previous week, ripping the sign she was holding and knocking her to the ground. The man, who was described as about 5'7" and in his mid-40's with scars on his face, encouraged people in the crowd to attack Falun Gong practitioners themselves.

The man described to the crowd that police shooed him away from the fallen woman he attacked, but took no further action, so he did the same thing to another Falun Gong practitioner a few minutes later. He was arrested the second time he attacked and taken to the police station, fined $440 for assault, and told to appear in court the following week.

The man then told the crowd that the police couldn't be there all the time, so they should wait until the police weren't around, drag Falun Gong practitioners into side streets, and beat them there, out of the sight of witnesses.

According to Jimmy Zou, a 46-year old Falun Gong practitioner from Washington, D.C., he is concerned that the mobs will try the same tactics again today.

"When the mob tried to curse Falun Gong practitioners, they [the mob] blocked the road, while standing and facing Falun Gong in the road," recounted Zou about what he saw last night in front of the Flushing Library.

"They are still trying to do the same thing right now," he added. "There is a mob of over 100 people trying to do the same thing."