Falun Gong Practitioners Assaulted During Brooklyn Parade (September 14, 2024)

Witness and victim reports:

Report 1: First-hand account from first assault victim

At noon, during our Falun Dafa parade on Brooklyn’s 8th Avenue in New York, I was monitoring the procession when I suddenly saw a tall Chinese man rush into our parade. He spat at a female practitioner holding a banner and then walked behind her. At that moment, Mr. Wei, who was responsible for security, stepped forward, intending to physically separate the attacker from the female practitioner.

The incident happened so suddenly that I wasn’t sure what had occurred. Before I could approach, the assailant suddenly lunged at me and struck my head with his fist. I instinctively dodged backward, and he hit my right shoulder instead. I was nearly knocked over. Mr. Wei quickly used his body to block the attacker and stood between me and him. We didn’t respond to the attacker, and he left the parade, moving into the crowd of onlookers on the sidewalk.

At the time, the parade continued forward, and I walked alongside it, keeping an eye on the procession. About a minute or two later, the attacker suddenly lunged at me again from behind, striking my neck and back. I stumbled forward several steps and nearly fell. When I regained my footing and turned around, I saw that it was the same assailant from a few minutes earlier. He quickly left and entered a nearby Bank of America. I tried to take a picture of him with my phone, but I only managed to capture the moment he was closing the door. The time displayed on my phone was 12:48.

Wang Lirong

Report 2: First-hand account by security volunteer who intervened

My name is Wei Lisheng, and I was in charge of security for the Falun Gong parade. I was responsible for the area at 57th Street on 8th Avenue in Brooklyn. As the parade was moving forward along 57th Street, I noticed a man near Falun Gong practitioner Wang Lirong behaving erratically. I followed behind them and saw the man suddenly attack Wang Lirong. I quickly positioned myself between the attacker and Wang Lirong to prevent the attacker from striking her again. I used my body to shield Wang Lirong. The assailant shouted at me, saying, “I’ll remember you,” but I ignored his threats.

During the parade, I saw the same attacker spit at other Falun Gong practitioners. We didn’t engage with him but continued to keep an eye on his movements. The attacker eventually left the parade and moved into the crowd of onlookers on the sidewalk.

Wei Lisheng

Report 3: First-hand account by eyewitness to the assault

My name is Xiaoling Wang, and I am a Falun Gong practitioner. On Saturday, September 14, 2024, I participated in a Falun Gong parade in Brooklyn’s Chinese community, along with thousands of other Falun Gong practitioners.

I was positioned behind the third formation in the parade, which included the lion dance team, pushing a cart with three others, displaying a large banner from the Quit the CCP Center. At 12:47 p.m., as we passed the Bank of America near 56th Street on 8th Avenue, I suddenly saw a young man in light-colored clothing about 5 to 6 meters in front of me, to the right. He aggressively shoved Lirong Wang, who was coordinating in the parade, from behind. Caught off guard, Lirong Wang stumbled forward several steps and nearly fell to the ground. The man watched Lirong Wang for a moment before walking toward the sidewalk. As Lirong Wang took out her phone to take a picture of him, he entered the Bank of America. Since this occurred between two intersections, there were no police or security personnel present at that moment.

Xiaoling Wang

Report 4: First-hand account from second assault victim

我叫楊曉平，9/14我們紐約部分法輪功學員，參加了全球退黨服務中心在布魯克林八大道舉辦的反中共迫害大遊行，當遊行結束後，約下午 二點左右，我從八大道43街往66街方向返回，準備乘地鐵回法拉盛，是在八大道左面人行道往前走，當走到50街左右的時候，突然被一名男子用右肩，朝我的胸部猛力撞了一下，我當時被撞悶了，整個左半身都發麻，一會感到頭昏眼花的，心臟巨力疼痛，人差點倒地，當我慢慢轉身往回看時，看到這個爆徒用手指著我，嘴上聽不清在說什麼，當時我想過去拍照，但被撞太猛，一時動不了，後看他們二個也走遠了，我就只好放棄拍照，慢慢返回法拉盛，大致情況是這樣。

Translation:  My name is Yang Xiaoping. On September 14, some of us Falun Gong practitioners in New York participated in the anti-CCP persecution parade organized by the Global Service Center for Quitting the Chinese Communist Party, held on 8th Avenue in Brooklyn. After the parade ended, around 2 PM, I was heading back from 43rd Street towards 66th Street on 8th Avenue, intending to take the subway back to Flushing. I was walking on the left-side sidewalk of 8th Avenue. When I reached around 50th Street, a man suddenly rammed his right shoulder forcefully into my chest. I was stunned by the hit, and my entire left side went numb. Shortly after, I felt dizzy, my vision blurred, and I experienced severe pain in my heart, almost causing me to collapse. When I slowly turned around to look back, I saw this thug pointing at me with his finger, though I couldn’t hear what he was saying. At that moment, I wanted to go over and take a photo, but I was too shaken by the hit and couldn’t move. When I looked again, the two of them had already walked far away, so I had to give up on taking a photo and slowly made my way back to Flushing. That’s roughly what happened.