FLUSHING, New York—On July 1 at around 6 a.m., An Epoch Times newspaper deliveryman found that noodle sauce had been poured inside Epoch Times and Secret China newspaper boxes on Main St. in Flushing. The police was called and in ten minutes they had arrived at the scene to investigate.
The deliveryman, Mr. Xiao, suspects the incidents are part of a systematic effort to prevent readers from accessing the paper. "This event is directly related to the commotion that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)'s henchmen are causing in Flushing," Xiao said. "It was done intentionally to destroy the newspapers because they tell the truth about what's been happening in Flushing and the CCP associated thugs are afraid of this."
Since May 17, violent verbal and physical attacks aimed at Epoch Times staff and Falun Gong practitioners have broken out on the streets of Flushing. The Epoch Times has been consistently covering and investigating the attacks.
Another Epoch Times staffer, Ms. Xu, has been delivering the paper for eight years. "Two weeks ago on Saturday morning between 5:30 a.m. and 6 a.m., I found that the CCP's henchmen had spilled all The Epoch Times, Secret China, and Renminbao newspapers all over the ground near the Starbucks Coffee on Main St," Xu said. "Around 200 papers covered the sidewalk making people having to go around them. There were also many Secret China and The Epoch Times newspapers scattered about the intersection of Main St. and Abbott. They were blown all over the streets."
Secret China and Renminbao are papers known be anti-Communist.
"From such actions, you can see that the CCP goes all-out to enlist accomplices to carry out any actions," Xu said. "The reason that they sabotage the newspaper in such a way is because the newspaper reports the truth about the CCP, from their prohibition of free thinking to large scale brainwashing. It also shows that the CCP is afraid of these media."
The targeting of Epoch Times boxes is not new. In June of last year, Epoch Times San Francisco delivery staff, with the help of the San Francisco Police Department, caught a man stealing and emptying papers from Epoch Times boxes in downtown San Francisco late at night.
In Los Angeles in 2005, an armed man of Asian descent followed a regular route through the city, pilfering papers from their boxes. He was eventually apprehended and charged with assault.
Under California Penal Code Section 490.7, and San Francisco Police Code, Section 630, it is unlawful for any person to remove, take, or appropriate more than 25 copies of the current issue of a free or a complimentary newspaper if done with the intent to deprive others of the opportunity to read or enjoy the newspaper.
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