(Minghui.org) Falun Gong practitioners gathered in the Chinese community in Brooklyn, New York on June 25, 2017, to introduce the spiritual discipline of Falun Gong and raise awareness of the persecution of the practice in China which has been ongoing since 1999.

Practitioners demonstrate the exercises in Brooklyn, New York on June 25, 2017, introducing the practice to residents and tourists.

The practitioners exercised together in the morning. Many people were drawn to the group activity and peaceful music.

One young woman, who photographed the practitioners, said she wanted to send the photos to her mother, who was also a practitioner.

After the exercises, the practitioners put up many banners, distributed Falun Gong literature to passersby, and told them about the brutal persecution in China. They also offered to help Chinese people quit the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its affiliated organizations, so that they could sever ties with the regime and the crimes against humanity it has committed. Over 20 Chinese people quit that day, after talking to the practitioners.

Falun Gong practitioners put up banners and posters in Brooklyn to raise awareness of the persecution in China.

“You are a courageous group of people,” said a Chinese man who had immigrated to the U.S. two years ago, “You expose what's really happening in China to the world.” He also encouraged the practitioners as they encountered hostile Chinese people. “These people have been brainwashed by the regime's propaganda," he said, "They can no longer think for themselves.”

Some Chinese people told practitioners that they had never joined any CCP organizations because they were once persecuted in China and had to move overseas.

Two Chinese students said that they knew about the persecution from watching NTD Television. They quit the CCP Young Pioneers, that they'd joined when they were younger. Many others quit the CCP after reading the posters and talking to practitioners.