On July 3rd, 10 am, more than 200 Falun Gong practitioners and supporters gathered outside the Chinese Consulate in Manhattan to call attention to the escalating persecution in China. Banners they had with them read: SOS! URGENT: Rescue the Falun Gong Practitioners Persecuted in China. While they quietly performed standing exercises, a press conference began with opening remarks from a Falun Gong spokesperson. He announced to the press that the 200 people present would walk through Manhattan and continue to New Jersey City, where at least fifteen people would continue walking on a 250 mile, two-week journey to Washington, D.C.

Falun Gong practitioners hold banners in front of New York Chinese Consulate

Following his remarks, two Falun Gong practitioners shared their first-hand experiences of persecution. Amy Lee shared how the Chinese government broke up her family, forcing her husband to file for divorce and making it impossible to see her daughter. She also gave a vivid account of being beaten to the point of unconsciousness when she was held in a labor camp. Jane Chen spoke about the tragic and brutal murder of Chen Zixiu, her heroic fight to stay alive and the noble actions of Ms. Chen's daughter, who is now serving time in a labor camp for revealing the details of her mother's death to a Western reporter.

A practitioner from Mainland China shares her accounts of being brutally persecuted

This 73 old lady will walk 250 miles to DC to keep the memory of murdered practitioners alive

15 practitioners who will walk to DC to call for the end of persecution

After a Falun Gong spokesperson presented three congratulatory letters from New York State Senators, the group began a solemn and dignified walk to the World Trade Center to hold a smaller-scale press conference. There, a speaker presented a grave account of the recent murders of 15 female Falun Gong practitioners in Harbin Labor Camp. The story captivated all who heard it, including policemen who were present. Almost moved to tears, they expressed delight in going out of their way to assist the procession in every way possible.

200 practitioners walk towards World Trade Center in New York City

Revealing the tragedy of murdering of 15 female Falun Gong practitioners in a labor camp in China

Walkers interviewed by media

The momentous event also moved passersby. One practitioner was amazed to see that as many as nine out of ten pedestrians eagerly accepted brochures that presented the SOS! theme. Drivers honked their horns in support, people gave the thumbs up sign and one non-practitioner earnestly spoke of joining the walk to Washington, D.C. The procession handed out almost ten thousand flyers and could have given more had they not run out. As many as twenty media teams, both Chinese and Western, from newspapers, magazines, radio and T.V. covered the event.

The perfect weather and the unhampered flow of events validated in people's minds that the cosmic climate is indeed changing at an unprecedented rate. Practitioners' thoughts and energy fields are becoming ever more righteous and powerful and everyday people are becoming more clearheaded.