(Minghui.org) Falun Gong practitioners from Jacksonville, St. Augustine, Port Orange, and Gainesville, Florida, along with a practitioner from Switzerland, gathered at Plaza de la Constitution in St. Augustine on Friday, July 20, 2018, to commemorate fellow practitioners who have been persecuted and died for their belief in China. They talked to the local community about Falun Gong and collected signatures to end the forced organ harvesting of living Falun Gong practitioners in China for profit.

July 20, 2018, marks 19 years of persecution in China. Falun Gong practitioners in China have been brutalized in the most extreme and horrific ways simply for their firm belief in Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance – the core principles of Falun Gong.

Plaza de la Constitucion is the central park of historic St. Augustine. Founded in 1565 by Spanish explorers, St. Augustine is the oldest continuously occupied European-established settlement within the borders of the continental United States. Designated by Royal Ordinance in 1573, Plaza de la Constitucion is the oldest public park in the United States. Because the plaza is flanked by several colonial buildings, Cathedral Basilica of St. Augustine, and the shops on St. George Street, it attracts tourist from all over the world.

With solemn music playing in the background, practitioners set up a display to introduce Falun Gong, discuss why it is being persecuted in China, and showcased the peaceful appeals held by practitioners throughout the world to end the persecution.

There was a table at the end of the display with a petition for people to sign to urge Florida legislators to take action against the ongoing forced organ harvesting of Falun Gong practitioners in China and to protect U.S. citizens from becoming recipients of illicit organs and unwitting accomplices to these crimes against humanity.

The event attracted many passersby who stopped to read the posters and listen to practitioners explain the details of the persecution. People were shocked by the extreme brutality of the persecution, and many expressed their sincere concern for Falun Gong practitioners.

Even when it got dark people continued to read the posters, which were lit only by candles. Residents and visitors from Florida, Georgia, Texas, Alabama, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, Arizona, and Maryland signed the petition to show their support for Falun Gong.