What follows is a story told by Maomao, an 11-year-old Dafa practitioner. On the first day of the new century, he traveled with his mother a long way from the south of China to Beijing. They went to Tiananmen Square to validate Dafa. For Maomao, this was his second time, while for his mom, this was her fifth trip to Beijing to validate Dafa. Here is Maomao's story:

At 7:30 AM on New Year's Day, we went to Tiananmen Square to validate Dafa. We saw a banner on the ground left by other practitioners, so we went to pick it up. A policeman saw us, and he asked my mom: "Are you also practitioners?" Mom spoke out loudly: "Falun Dafa is good! Falun Dafa is an orthodox Fa! Restore the clean reputation of our Teacher! Restore the clean reputation of Falun Dafa!" I spoke out with her, too: "Falun Dafa is good! Falun Dafa is an orthodox Fa!"

Many policemen rushed over and began to beat us. They used iron batons to beat us. I was kicked several times, but we continued to shout out loud. Finally they grabbed us by the neck, covered our mouths and then forced us into a police van. Mom did not obey and struggled all the time during the arrest, and she was beat very badly. Inside the van, they pushed her down on the floor, stepped on her head and breasts, pressed an iron baton against her nose, and beat her. I spoke out nearby: "Don't beat my mom, she is a good person!" I rushed to protect her, but a policeman came and stopped me with his baton. He pushed me to the floor and sat on me. I couldn't move. At this time my mom was shouting too: "Why are you beating up a child and his mother?"

The police van pulled into Tiananmen Square Police Station, where we saw more practitioners. First we were taken into an alley. On the wall around us, practitioners had hung up many banners and Falun emblems of various sizes. We all spoke out very loudly: "Suffocate the evil! Dafa rectifies the universe! Restore our teacher's clean reputation! Restore the clean reputation of Falun Dafa! Let us go!" Our voices were very loud and ordered, making the policemen afraid to get close. We kept crying out and reciting Teacher's "Hong Yin" and scriptures; many of us were moved to tears.

Later on we were put on buses and taken away. There were about 5 buses, all filled with practitioners. Mom, Aunt Hui and I were taken along with 4 others to Beiyuan Police Station in Tongzhou City. In the police station, I was separated from the other practitioners and taken to a cell with more than 10 policemen. They asked me my name and address, but I did not tell them. A policeman held my head and grabbed my hand, trying to shock me with his electric baton. I said to him, "How could you even dare to shock me!" I told them loudly, "You cannot beat me, since I am a just a child. I didn't do anything wrong. You have knowingly violated the law, so I will press charges against you. I will also put your stories on the Internet, so that everyone will know your bad deeds. I have memorized the name of your police station." They were shocked by my words, and never beat me again after that. They told me, "Your mother should not have brought you here, you should be home studying." I said, "Mom did not force me to come here. I wanted to come myself. Since practicing Falun Gong, I no longer get ill. My performance at school is better too. People around me all said that I became more sensible. I want to tell everyone that Falun Dafa is good." Since they could not get any information from me, they punished me by forcing me to stand for 5 hours. I was not tired at all when standing there, instead I felt very comfortable as if I was lying on a bed.

While standing there, I became very worried about mom. I asked use the restroom, hoping that it would give me an opportunity to see her. However, I was followed all the time. On the way back, I heard my mom's voice. She was crying out, "Bring my son back to me! I want my son back! He is just a child! You can't treat him like this!" So I cried out too, "I want my mom!" They still would not allow us to stay together, and took me to another room. I asked them how was my mom doing. One of them told me that my mom was the hardest to deal with in the group, that my mom was worthy of being a Dafa practitioner.

Later on I heard that my mom never cooperated with them. She did not tell them her name and address. She would not let them take her picture or her fingerprints. Seven or eight policeman surrounded, beat and kicked her, trying to force her to tell her name. She said, "You can beat me or kill me, you can use your guns and you knives; I can give my head to you, but I will give my heart to my Teacher." Surprisingly, they stopped beating and forcing her after she said these words. Finally they drove us to a desolate place in the wilderness and threw us out.

Now we have returned home safely. However, my mom's body is covered with bruises, and there is a pain in her chest, which comes in waves. She has trouble moving around, and her temperature is really high.

This was how it was when we went to Beijing to protect Dafa. I wrote it all down to disclose the evil deeds of those policemen who knowingly violated the law.

01/03/2001