(Clearwisdom.net) On June 14, 2008, Falun Gong practitioners and supporters held a march and rally to protest the Communist regime's persecution of Falun Gong and to support the Chinese people who have withdrawn from the CCP and its affiliated organizations. Some residents of Flushing expressed their thoughts on the event and the CCP's persecution.


Mr. Dave Steele, a resident of Flushing

Mr. Dave Steele, who has lived in Flushing for more than ten years, said that a group of Chinese came to Flushing in the last few weeks, and that their violent behavior made him feel unsafe. "I don't know why they were so provocative and violent towards the Falun Gong group. America is a democratic country. Everyone here has the freedom to express his opinion, but it should be in a peaceful way (pointing at the Falun Gong group.) But not like them, (pointing at the CCP's thugs.)" Mr. Steele called for those people to express their opinions in a peaceful way. He said that if they continue to act violently, they should go back to their own country. Mr. Steele went on to say that Falun Gong practitioners behave peacefully, and that they deserve respect and protection.

An African-American woman who works near Flushing accepted a flier from a volunteer, as she would like to learn more about Falun Gong and the background of the recent incident. She saw a group of CCP thugs assaulting a Falun Gong practitioner, pulling his hair and hitting him with a bottle. She said with tears in her eyes, "How can they be so cruel and violent?" When a volunteer at the Service Center for Quitting the CCP told her that's how the CCP has extended the persecution overseas, she said that she would tell her colleagues and friends about it.

Ms. Chen Jia, who had just come from Shanghai, and her husband watched the march and rally. She said that when she was in China, the parents of one of her classmates practiced Falun Gong and thought that it was great, but everything that she heard about it in China after 1999 was negative. Now she has come abroad and gotten information from other channels. She said that she would take the opportunity to learn more about Falun Gong.