Hate Crimes Continue in Flushing for Eleventh Consecutive Day
Another Assailant Arrested as Pro-communist Crowds Harass, Assault
NEW YORK – A pro-communist mob continued to assault Falun Gong adherents in the Flushing area of New York City Tuesday for the eleventh consecutive day. One assailant was arrested by Queens police.
The incident began on May 17th when a group of ethnic Chinese protesters descended on a center staffed by Falun Gong adherents that encourages Chinese ex-pats to renounce their affiliations with the Communist Party. (news)
Since then, the scope of the protests has spread, with organized groups of pro-Communist Chinese totaling some 500-600 bodies scouring the Flushing area daily looking to harass Falun Gong adherents. At approximately 10am Tuesday morning, Falun Gong practitioners in Flushing were the targets of the first unprovoked attacks of the day.
In scenes some say were reminiscent of the cultural revolution, the mobs of ethnic Chinese have physically and verbally accosted Falun Gong adherents, including pummeling them with stones, water bottles and eggs, and chanting “death to Falun Gong.”
“The mob violence is a hate crime against peaceful Falun Gong practitioners in the U.S.,” says Erping Zhang, Executive Director of the Falun Dafa Information Center. “It is disturbing to note that Beijing is treating New York City as its own backyard, and that U.S. citizens who are practicing the meditation of Falun Gong have to face a new form of persecution in the land of the free.”
Telephone transcripts from a conversation with the Chinese consul general in New York suggests that China’s Communist Party may be orchestrating the attacks on Falun Gong, which have been paralleled in recent days by similar events in Japan, Los Angeles and elsewhere. (news)
Reporters who attempted to cover the scene Tuesday were surrounded by the mobs, who reportedly threatened “I will kill you!” One Falun Gong adherent had her camera grabbed and smashed by some of the protesters over Memorial Day long weekend.
At least six arrests have been made by New York City police of members of the pro-Communist mob, with charges ranging from assault to resisting arrest. No arrests have been made against Falun Gong adherents, who have been congregating peacefully in Flushing since the attacks began.
