Seattle, Washington: Rally Calls for End to 26-Year Long Persecution

(Minghui.org) Practitioners held a rally at Westlake Park in Seattle on July 20, 2025, to commemorate the 26th anniversary of their efforts to end the persecution. They demonstrated the Falun Dafa (Falun Gong) exercises and talked to people about the benefits of the practice and how the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has persecuted Falun Dafa for 26 years.

Practitioners demonstrate the exercises during a rally at Westlake Park on July 20, 2025.

A practitioner talks with passersby.

A practitioner shows people the Falun Dafa exercises at the park.

Congressman from Washington Supports Falun Dafa

Several practitioners from Washington recently visited Washington, D.C., to meet with their congressional representatives and inform them about the persecution as well as the CCP’s transnational repression.

Congressman Adam Smith from Washington State voiced support for Falun Dafa in his letter in response to the local practitioners’ rally invitation.

He wrote, “As a long-time member of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, I believe that governments should respect people’s freedoms and rights and promote the equal treatment of all individuals. Discrimination in any form cannot be tolerated. No person should be persecuted for their spiritual or religious beliefs, and we must work to eliminate acts of hate against people of different ethnic, religious, and cultural backgrounds. These are basic rights and fundamental pillars of peaceful, inclusive societies.

“I remain concerned about reports of discrimination and abuses against Falun Gong practitioners by the Chinese Communist Party, and I will continue to monitor the situation. You will be pleased to know that H.R. 1540, the Falun Gong Protection Act, passed the U.S. House of Representatives on May 5, 2025. This bill would require the President to impose sanctions on individuals who have participated in the involuntary harvesting of organs in China.”

The Falun Gong Protection Act passed the U.S. House of Representatives and is pending in the U.S. Senate.

People Learn and Support Falun Gong

The serene and peaceful scene of practitioners’ group exercise attracted a number of passersby to stop to take photos or read the display boards. Some talked with practitioners to learn more.

A couple from Washington State read the information on the display boards and then talked with a practitioner to learn more. They could not understand why the CCP persecutes Falun Gong because they said practitioners are a group of people who exercise and meditate.

The practitioner explained the false and violent nature of the CCP in detail to this couple. She also told them that after she practiced Falun Gong, all her long-term illnesses disappeared. The couple was very interested and spent half an hour learning the five exercises. At the end, they signed the petition supporting the Falun Gong Protection Act and said they would continue practicing Falun Gong.

A young tourist from Dubai stopped to watch the group exercise and asked where she could practice Falun Gong and whether she could learn it in Dubai. When she heard that such a good and free practice was banned in China and had been persecuted for more than 26 years, she was surprised and signed the petition to end the CCP’s state-sanctioned forced organ harvesting. She posted what she saw and heard on social media.

A young American woman stopped at the event and recorded a video for a long time. She said that she and her husband knew about Falun Gong and the brutal persecution in China. They expressed strong support for Falun Gong, and said they liked Shen Yun. They see Shen Yun in Seattle every year, and they’ve recommended Shen Yun to their friends, along with telling them about the ongoing persecution. The woman also said she planned to share the group exercise that she recorded that day on her social media.