On the afternoon of January 26, over 100 San Francisco Bay area Falun Gong practitioners and supporters gathered in front of the Chinese Consulate in the rain to protest the death of practitioner Zheng Fangying, who was beaten to death after she went to appeal in Tiananmen Square, and the deportation of Canadian practitioner Connie Chipkar, who wore a Falun Gong - SOS sash and sang a song in Tiananmen Square.

Three western practitioners who have been to Tiananmen Square to appeal for Falun Gong, Carson (front), Leining (rear left) and Centurion (rear middle), hold a picture of Canadian Ms. Chipkar in Tiananmen Square and appeal to people in and outside the Chinese Consulate to uphold justice.

Three western practitioners, Brian Carson, Adam Leining and Alejandro Centurion, who went to Tiananmen Square to appeal for Falun Gong, participated in the appeal. They told the people about their personal experiences, why they went to Tiananmen, and their feeling of the trip to Beijing.

Like many other Westerners, 61-year-old Connie Chipkar's aim was to help the Chinese Falun Gong practitioners. Last September the beginning of that goal was realized by her involvement with the "SOS Urgently Rescue Falun Gong Practitioners in China Global Walk." For the past four months plus she had been traveling from Northern Canada to Southern Europe, in order to inform people about the dramatic Falun Gong situation and the practitioners' plight in China. Her journey took her to 14 countries and 30 cities.

On the afternoon of January 23, Connie Chipkar went to Tiananmen Square wearing a sash emblazoned with the words: "Falun Gong" and "SOS." Standing in the huge square while Chinese tourists watched, she sang and held out her arms, even as a uniformed officer and plainclothes policemen loaded her into a police van.

When interviewed by reporter of Epochtimes, she talked about how many tourists and children watched as the scene unfolded. Throughout the event she kept singing. The police tried to pull her arms down but could not. Then they roughly shoved her into a police van, injuring her knee. After refusing to answer questions while the police tried to interrogate and coerce her, she was deported back to Canada.

Another practitioner was not so fortunate. Zheng Fangying, female, 54, was from Beiwei Village, Weifang City, Shandong Province. She was brutally beaten by the police after unfurling a Falun Gong banner on Tiananmen Square. She died shortly after the police sent her home.

On December 2, 2001, Zheng Fangying traveled to Beijing from Qingzhou Railway Station with 220 Yuan RMB. When she arrived in Beijing, she managed to distribute all the Falun Gong flyers that she brought along. She then went to Tiananmen Square to unfurl a Falun Gong banner. There were several dozen other Falun Gong practitioners who unfurled their banners simultaneously. Zheng Fangying was knocked down and beaten severely by the police before she was sent to a police station. In the police station, she was initially locked up with other practitioners. The police tortured her with various means because she refused to follow any orders. In one instance, she was beaten and shocked with a high voltage electric baton. Because of the cruel torture, her internal organs were severely injured. Later, she was detained in a small, solitary cell.

Zheng Fangying refused to give up her belief in Falun Gong despite her predicament. She went on hunger strike for 18 days and refused to tell the police her name and home address. She only told the police the truth about Falun Gong.

The police beat her so frequently that she could not walk or relieve herself at will. Her life was in grave danger. Not wanting to take responsibility in case she died, the police sent her to the railway station and asked her where her destination was. She said Jinan City, Shandong Province. After arriving at Jinan Railway Station, she crawled up and down through the underpass of the railway station in a great deal of pain, trying to get out. She was so weak that she passed out. A kind-hearted young man helped her to her home and left 20 Yuan RMB with her family. Her family members found that she lost two teeth, her abdomen was dark brown, and there were bruises all over her body. Because of the severe injuries to her internal organs, a gurgling sound came from her abdomen area whenever she moved her body. She died three days after she got home. Shortly before she passed away, she regretted that her daughter-in-law had not become a Falun Dafa practitioner and that she could not clarify the truth to more people.

Zheng Fangying died with her eyes and mouth open, still wanting to tell people the truth about Falun Gong. She left this world without a trace of hatred but a great deal of compassion.

Zheng Fangying's two-year-old granddaughter saw with her celestial eye that she flew up into heaven. This story was told to all her relatives, including her son and daughter-in-law, and other villagers. Such an eyewitness account had spread quickly throughout the village and beyond. It has changed the negative opinions of many everyday people, including her son and her daughter-in-law, about Falun Gong.

During the gathering on January 26, Bay Area practitioner Brad Carson, who was among the 36 practitioners that went to Tiananmen appealing in November 2001, said, "The 36 of us, Ms. Chipkar, and Ms. Zheng Fangying went to Tiananmen to let Chinese people know that they have the power to choose and freedom. They could choose to break away from the terror and lies that make them lose their freedom. We did not go to Tiananmen to become martyrs. Falun Gong has taught me to love life even more, and how to gain peace and freedom from deep in my heart. Practitioners in mainland China treasure life so much that they are willing to sacrifice their lives so other could have freedom."