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Tattooed Man Attacks Falun Gong Information Booths in New York’s Flushing

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A tattooed Asian male on Feb. 10 attacked two information booths in New York City’s Flushing, which were set up to raise awareness about the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) long-running persecution of spiritual group Falun Gong.

The incident, which echoes similar harassment campaigns targeting the group’s activities in the city and elsewhere, is believed to be orchestrated by the CCP in a bid to intimidate adherents of the practice.

At around 3:20 p.m. on Thursday, a tattooed man wearing all black approached one of the booths in front of the Golden Shopping Mall on Flushing’s Main Street and punched one of the display boards without saying a word, according to witness Xu Weiguoa, a volunteer manning the booth.

The man then proceeded to throw a table containing information material onto the ground, and stomped on the fallen display board with his feet, she said. The man appeared to be in his twenties and looked gangster-like, she added. He wore a black cap and black T-shirt revealing tattoos on his chest, and tattoo sleeves on both arms, footage of the incident obtained by The Epoch Times shows.

“That guy even tore up flyers … while he was sitting on the ground,” said Xu. “He carried off the broken board when he left, afraid that evidence left might be used against him.”

Earlier in the day, the same man had similarly vandalized another information station down the road outside Flushing Public Library.

Lily Wang, a volunteer at that booth, told The Epoch Times that the assailant made a sudden move towards the information table and started smashing it.

“He threw all the flyers on the table away and kicked the table,” she said.

Footage of the incident confirms these events.

Wang and another volunteer Zhang Shuzhen shouted at the attacker, “Stop doing that!” But the man didn’t listen, Wang recalled.

The two women then blocked the man from damaging more items. A Westerner who was passing by joined in, successfully preventing the suspect from continuing his attack.

The man then left, while cursing, according to Wang.

But he later returned, this time with his shirt off revealing his tattooed chest, and attempted to damage items again. The volunteers, however, were able to block him a second time.

About an hour after the afternoon attack outside Golden Shopping Mall, police arrived at the scene for investigation.

The Epoch Times has reached out to the NYPD for an update on the investigation.

‘Hate Crime’

Representatives of the advocacy group operating the information booths denounced the attack, while urging the NYPD to thoroughly investigate the incident.

“We condemn the CCP thug for the malicious attack,” Yi Rong, president of the Global Service Center for Quitting the CCP, said in a statement.

Rong described the attack as a “hate crime” committed by the CCP against adherents of Falun Gong, adding that the incident was orchestrated behind the scenes by the Chinese consulate.

For over two decades, the communist regime in China has perpetrated an expansive campaign of repression against adherents of Falun Gong. Millions of adherents in mainland China have been thrown in detention facilities, where they are subjected to torture, forced labor, and organ harvesting.

But the repression has extended beyond China’s borders, with the CCP and its proxies targeting overseas Falun Gong practitioners who raise awareness about the persecution. Rights bodies have dubbed this a campaign of “transnational repression” which aims to silence and intimidate the regime’s critics abroad.

Epoch Times Photo
Some members who are incited by the Chinese embassy surround and physically attack Falun Gong practitioners attending a police-authorized rally in Flushing, NYC, on May 17, 2008. (The Epoch Times)

This is not the first time Falun Gong practitioners have been targeted in Flushing.

In 2008, the site was the center of a campaign of sustained violence against adherents manning information stations that lasted several months. Mobs of Chinese nationals assaulted, punched, berated, and threw rocks at Falun Gong practitioners.

The months-long violence turned out to be connected to the Chinese consulate in New York. Peng Keyu, then-New York consul general, admitted in an undercover phone call to instigating pro-CCP groups to launch a series of assaults on Falun Gong adherents in the area.

CCP Connections

As the assailant was walking away after the first attack outside the library on Thursday, Wang, the volunteer, saw that the man making a victorious gesture to a person across the street.

It turned out that that person was Li Huahong, Wang said. Li is a leader of a local CCP front group, who has a history of harassing Falun Gong practitioners and spreading hate propaganda against the faith group. In 2013, Li was convicted assaulting a Falun Gong practitioner in Flushing.

On Thursday, when Li saw that volunteers had spotted her, the woman taunted them, “Go to the police! Why not?” according to Wang.

Michael Yu, a volunteer at the information center in Flushing, said the incident revealed the “ganster-like nature” of the CCP and its fear of people learning the truth about its brutal persecution in China.

The attack is a blatant violation of religious freedom enjoyed in the United States, Rong said, adding that he hoped the suspect would be brought to justice.

Lin Dan, Sarah Lu, and Frank Fang contributed to this report.

Frank Yue

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Frank Yue is a Canada-based journalist for The Epoch Times who covers China-related news. He also holds an M.A. in English language and literature from Tianjin Foreign Studies University, China.



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