Eyewitness Account #1
On October 1, 2000 at 7:00am, armed policemen began to clear out Tiananmen Square. Several sanitation vehicles drove around to expel tourists. Many Falun Gong practitioners were not willing to leave, and so the armed policemen started to arrest them, forcing them into buses. Some practitioners shouted: "Falun Dafa is good!" Several buses filled with practitioners roamed around the square giving the practitioners inside further opportunities to shout to tourists: "Falun Dafa is good!"
Arrested Falun Gong practitioners were taken to the Eastern District Detention Center located in Xiaotangshan, Changping County. Policemen from various regions came to identify their local practitioners and then took them away. Those practitioners who refused to give their names were sent to other detention centers. Policemen asked several elderly practitioners whether they were ill. In response, these elderly practitioners mentioned the diseases they had suffered before they began practicing, and then the police took them to their local police station. They were released after one night's detention.
One Shangdong practitioner walked for nine days before he arrived at Tiananmen Square. He did so after he read on Minghui the article, "To Jiang Zemin: Stop This Reckless Behavior That is Disgracing China."
Eyewitness Account #2: Bleeding on Tiananmen Square and How the Army Entered the Square Silently on the Evening of October 1st
In the early morning of October 1, I arrived at a Tiananmen Square that was crowded with tourists, and plainclothes and uniformed police. The police searched tourists' bags indiscriminately, offending many. I noticed that there were many Falun Gong practitioners from all over the country in the Square. Because another round of oppression had been launched nationwide prior to October 1, with numerous practitioners unlawfully arrested and detained, practitioners from all over the country had come to Beijing to appeal to the central government.
At about 8:30am, one of the first Falun Dafa banners was raised and many practitioners immediately stepped forward. The police rushed towards these goodhearted people who would never think to fight back. Numerous blows and kicks fell on practitioners. "Police, stop beating," I shouted, and got punched immediately. "Falun Dafa is good!" I shouted loudly again. A policeman rushed at me and pulled my clothes hard, tearing them. Another policeman punched a middle-aged woman in the face. She fell down with blood all over her face. Several policemen also beat a senior citizen until the blood covered his face. "Why do the police beat people so cruelly?" one tourist shouted out.
After 7:00pm on October 1, units of the army were sent silently from other places to the areas surrounding Tiananmen Square. In the woods along the History Museum and behind portable toilets and in other dark corners, numerous PLA (People's Liberation Army) soldiers lay hidden. They looked like newly recruited soldiers. Jiang appears to have in mind more serious crimes.
A practitioner in Mainland China
October 3, 2000
Eyewitness Account #3:
It was very gloomy and cloudy on the morning of October 1, 2000, unlike the usual autumn day that should be crisp and clear. There was already a sea of people in the Square at 7:00 am. Around 8:00am, I walked around the Monument to the National Flag and saw two policemen questioning several middle-aged and honest-looking women who were sitting on the ground. The police arrested two women whom they considered to be Falun Gong practitioners, although the women asked him: "What's wrong with our sitting here?"
Suddenly a commotion broke out as a dozen plainclothes policemen sprinted toward several Falun Gong practitioners who were raising a banner. Plainclothes policemen, black uniformed policemen, and thugs hired by the police fiercely beat these practitioners, who held on to the banner tightly. Tourists came over to watch what was happening, and police vans also drove over. While driving the tourists back, the police pushed the practitioners who had been beaten into submission into the vans. Falun Gong practitioners shouted: "Falun Dafa is good! Falun Dafa is righteous!" A practitioner in a yellow t-shirt with the three characters, "Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance," jumped out from the window of the police van. He shouted: "Falun Dafa is good! Falun Dafa practitioners step forward!" As policemen and thugs ran after him, another dozen practitioners who were standing at the rear of the crowd answered his call by raising another banner. Angry policemen, who seemed to have lost their human nature, violently beat the elderly citizens who were probably older than their parents and the children who were probably younger than their own brothers and sisters. The tourists, frightened, scattered all over the place. It was very chaotic.
Near the National Flag, more and more Falun Gong practitioners raised banners and distributed flyers. Uniformed and plainclothes policemen began to drive tourists off the square, leaving the middle of the square to Falun Gong practitioners holding banners and policemen shaking their fists. Suddenly a tide of shouting that astonished the crowd spread over the throng from the east of the National Flag, "Falun Dafa is good! Falun Dafa is righteous!" Nearly one hundred Falun Gong practitioners rushed out from the expelled throng towards the center of the square. Numerous armed policemen were sent to the square, and martial law was declared. Even so, Falun Gong practitioners continued to rush into the center of the square from all directions. The tourists who had been driven out clogged up the nearby underground passageway and all the other exits. This terrible spectacle was shot and videotaped by many, but the plainclothes policemen forced everyone to expose their film.
Buses, which had been prepared beforehand, were driven into the center of the square through the entrance on the East side of the Monument. A lot of people who witnessed the brutal violence couldn't help crying. But plainclothes and police pulled those kind-hearted people out of the crowd. Hired thugs fiercely pushed the crowd back, shouting: "Is there anything worth watching? Do you want to get on the bus, too? If you're not convinced, get on the bus" Several middle-aged women made their way out of the crowd and walked quietly toward the buses.
Many rows of armed policemen were sent into the center of Tiananmen Square, recklessly dealing with the non-violent Falun Gong practitioners. Buses filled with Falun Gong practitioners drove away from the square. Through the bus windows, some practitioners shouted with tears streaming down their faces: "Falun Dafa is good! Falun Dafa is righteous!" Some practitioners pressed their hands together in front of their chests in heshi' with smiles on their faces. A bunch of flyers were tossed out from the window of one bus. Banners reading "Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance" or "Falun Dafa is Good" were raised outside of the bus windows. Policemen inside the bus crawled over the heads of practitioners trying to grab at the banners but they couldn't get them. Policemen on the ground came to help, grabbing at the banners but also failing as the practitioners held the banners tightly. Dozens of buses and dozens of police vehicles drove away from Tiananmen Square. This action of rectifying Dafa in the human world lasted more than an hour. History will remember this day.
At 9:20am the army assembled in the square. The soldiers looked very tired and sweaty. The square was reopened. In some places, people were being driven out continuously. Occasionally several practitioners would shout: "Falun Dafa is good!" Then a police vehicle would rush over there immediately Standing on an iron trash container and waving their arms, two young practitioners shouted at the throng: "Falun Dafa is righteous! Falun Dafa is righteous!" Policemen who were still panting from exertion, ran over in exasperation to arrest them while criticizing the sanitation workers.
It started to rain. I left in the afternoon while the police vehicles kept rushing from one corner to another in Tiananmen Square. At about 3:20pm the sun came out in the gloomy sky but the air in Beijing was still foul. On October 2 a big fog filled the whole city.
Eyewitness
On the early morning of October 2, 20000
Eyewitness Account #4: The Brutal Oppression Shocked the People
On October 1, Beijing was dark and cloudy. The crowd surged like a tide into Tiananmen Square. At about 8:00am, after the flag raising ceremony, with love for their homeland, a sense of the duty to the nation, and an unwavering belief in the truth of the universe, Falun Gong practitioners started to protest peacefully. Protesting the brutal and inhumane crackdown on Falun Gong by Jiang Zemin and his accomplices, and requesting that Falun Gong practitioners be treated justly, practitioners silently raised banners on which were written "Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance," and "Falun Dafa is Good."
At once, the black uniformed and plainclothes policemen brutally attacked. Like a pack of wolves surrounding their prey, the police maliciously beat and kicked these goodhearted and peaceful Falun Gong practitioners. One strong policeman held on to an old lady's ankles and dragged her on the ground from the entrance of an underground passageway to a police vehicle, a distance over 300 feet. The people who saw this were shocked. The rough surface of the ground scraped the old lady's body badly. Many women, including one lady with an infant held to her chest, were dragged into police vehicles by the hair. Each time, clumps of hair would be pulled out. In spite of this brutal oppression, more and more Falun Gong practitioners bravely stepped out from the crowd, with the incident lasting for about an hour.
The ground of Tiananmen Square was wet with the blood of goodhearted and innocent Falun Gong practitioners. More than 1000 practitioners were arrested and they were sent by buses to the front of a market beside Qianmen (Front Gate'), and then later transferred to unknown places. Martial law was established on the square for an hour and then the square was reopened after the banners, the fliers, and the blood had been cleaned up. However, after the square was reopened, Falun Gong practitioners simply continued peacefully protesting and the oppression resumed.
Tiananmen Square is the symbol of the People's Republic of China and is the Square of the people. But now it has been turned into a place where a few evil people brutally oppress goodhearted and peaceful practitioners. Because Jiang Zemin and his accomplices have deprived 100 million Falun Gong practitioners of their legal rights and left them no place to appeal, practitioners have no choice but to go to Tiananmen Square. The high price paid by the practitioners for peacefully protesting in Tiananmen Square reveals to the people the crimes of Jiang Zemin and his accomplices and the ways in which these crimes are drawing the country into disaster.
Under the Eastern Review Stand of the Tiananmen building was hidden the control center for the oppression. Rows of TV monitors could be seen through an occasionally opened door. The scenes of ghastly oppression kept changing on those monitors, while a dozen police gave orders. On the one side was a group of peaceful people who had worked hard all their lives to pay the taxes that had raised and educated these oppressors. On the other side was a group of oppressors who had been equipped with the most modern, high-tech equipment that the money of the people and the nation could buy. Who is evil? And who is right? Can you tell? The leaders of the Chinese Government, will you allow evil persons, Jiang Zemin and his accomplices, to bring calamity to the country and the people?
The oppression in Tiananmen Square continued. Kind-hearted people, please judge all of this with your true heart. I hope that all predestined people can distinguish the right from the evil and obtain the true Fa. There are enlightened beings everywhere. The Gods are watching.
A citizen of the People's Republic of China
October 2, 20000
Eyewitness Account #5: The Surging Tide of Protecting Dafa in Tiananmen Square on October 1
In the early morning of October 1, 2000 there was a scattered shower. Tiananmen Square had been crowded with people since the previous evening. More and more tourists were now entering the Square. Some people with composed and serene expressions looked different from the ordinary tourists. They had no intention of enjoying the flower arrangements for National Day, but silently looked with understanding smiles at others who looked the same as they did. At about 8:30am, a group of Falun Gong practitioners from Shandong Province first raised a Dafa banner near the National Flag. Then more and more practitioners raised banners or started doing Falun Gong exercises. Uniformed and plainclothes policemen ran over as if faced with formidable enemies. Numerous armed policemen were dispatched into Tiananmen Square, and martial law was declared. Tourists were not allowed to enter the square. Many disappointed Chinese and foreign tourists who were forced to leave the Square all witnessed the foolishness of Jiang Zemin, whose authorities present a fierce exterior but are really faint of heart. Those Falun Gong practitioners are just kindhearted, defenseless people. Can attacking such people with armed police be considered brave? Could those with virtuous hearts ever do such a thing?
The tourists were driven to the side areas of the Square. In the middle of the Square was a large empty space where police parked vehicles and buses specifically for arresting Falun Gong practitioners. Inside the guard line stood more than twenty fierce-looking young men who were watching the crowd closely. Upon finding Falun Gong practitioners raising banners or doing Falun Gong exercises, they would immediately swarm upon them and beat and kick them, including senior citizens and children. After this outrage they would return to their lines. A male practitioner was beaten unconscious. They dragged him, wearing only a thin short-sleeve shirt, by his arms more than sixty feet on the ground into the bus. Another practitioner in a police uniform was sitting on the ground with his legs crossed in the meditation pose. Several ruffians rushed upon him, beating and kicking. But this practitioner kept sitting with his legs crossed tightly.
Some people in the crowd reprimanded those ruffians angrily. But they shouted loudly: "Are you Falun Gong practitioners? If you are, get on the bus." They rushed into the crowd and dragged out those they thought were suspicious. Police also paid close attention to people who carried cameras and shouted: "No taking pictures." Once they found somebody taking a picture, they exposed the film or even broke the camera. Under this tyranny, even foreign tourists had no choice but to open their cameras and take out the film.
Buses filled with practitioners were leaving Tiananmen Square. Practitioners in buses shouted: "Falun Dafa is good. Falun Dafa is righteous. The oppression of Falun Dafa is the most appalling injustice throughout the ages." I hope that the voices from these Falun Gong practitioners who protected Dafa with their lives will wake up the people in the world. I hope that the ferocious conduct of Jiang Zemin and his accomplices has been made abundantly clear to the heavens. I hope that those absolutely vicious demons will soon face justice as the truthful voices of these practitioners assist the Teacher in rectifying the Fa in the human world.
Those Falun Gong practitioners were sent to the Changping Detention Center. Some of them were transferred to Shunyi county and other places. In the detention center, the thunderous voice of Dafa practitioners kept bursting out despite the shouted commands of the vicious police guards.
All Dafa practitioners and kindhearted people in the world are watching closely how the government of Jiang Zemin will deal with these innocent and kindhearted Dafa practitioners.
A Dafa practitioner in Mainland China
October 2, 2000
Eyewitness Account #6
It was 8:00am when I arrived at Tiananmen Square. In the Square were flowers, a portrait of Sun Zhongshan (founding father of the Chinese nation), sculptures in the theme of the Olympics and the National Day, and a musical water fountain. People jostled each other in the crowd as if at a busy market. The sky was gloomy. On my way to the Square, the taxi driver wondered aloud why it was cloudy even though the forecast had been for a clear day. I smiled but didn't say anything.
I started to search for Falun Gong practitioners on west side of the Square. By the fences around the flower arrangements were sitting about twenty people who looked as though they were from outside Beijing. Most of them were women. Without talking to each other they were watching pedestrians alertly with serene faces. They must have been Falun Gong practitioners; some of them had come from Shenyang city. Several plainclothes policemen questioned them. Some of them did not answer anything and some of them left. I also found that a group of people near the entrance to the underground passageway in the northeastern corner of the square looked like Falun Gong practitioners too. There were several groups of practitioners in a number of other places. When I finished circling the square, it was about 8:40am.
There were not many uniformed and plainclothes policemen in the square. Policemen were wearing black uniforms with the words "China Police" on the sleeve instead of "The People's Police" as before. There were more buses than usual. I thought that the authorities must be afraid of Falun Gong.
At about 9:00am, a stir occurred on the south side of the National Flag. I went over there. More than a dozen Falun Gong practitioners raised several banners. Plainclothes policemen rushed over there, beat them, and wildly grabbed at the banners. Several black uniformed policemen joined the plainclothes police and a police van drove over. Both uniformed and plainclothes policemen grabbed at the banners and beat practitioners wildly. They pushed and dragged practitioners into the vehicles. Some practitioners fell down on the ground, some practitioners were beaten down again after just standing back up, some practitioners got off the vehicle, some snatched back the banners and raised them again. More and more practitioners rushed out from the crowd to join the group to protect Dafa. The policemen were in an extremely awkward position. While paying attention to one thing, they risked losing control of another since they had to drive out the tourists while dealing with the Dafa practitioners. The scene was intense, fierce, and chaotic, attracting the attention of everyone in the Square. Such a scene in this splendid and sacred place shocked people. They watched silently with expressionless faces while being pushed back by the police. Practitioners inside the throng kept rushing out. They raised banners shouting: "Falun Dafa is Good!" one after another. In this way, about 300 to 400 Falun Gong practitioners stepped out. Three buses filled with practitioners drove away from Tiananmen Square to the accompaniment of the sirens of the police cars. Practitioners waved to the crowd through the bus windows. With tears on their faces they shouted out: "Falun Dafa is good!"
After the buses left, the square was cleaned up and the martial law was withdrawn. The sky was darker and gloomier. The raindrops started falling. Tourists resumed their sightseeing, and the square returned to its usual business.
A Practitioner in Mainland China
October 3, 200
Eyewitness Account #7
October 1, 2000, Sunday, Tiananmen Square
It was bustling with noise and excitement in today's Tiananmen Square. The Square and the rostrum were full of people. It is very rare to see such a throng of people. Among the crowd were not only tourists but also Falun Gong practitioners who have continued to validate the Fa to the people in the world for this past year. Of course, there were also uniformed and plainclothes police who have attempted to keep the world from knowing the truth.
At about 10:00am the people in front of the Monument and the center of the Square suddenly formed a circle about 30 feet in diameter. Inside the circle, armed police blocked the crowd. Two police vehicles entered the circle by passing through the throng. Tourists were saying: "Falun Gong is protesting." After a while, two police vehicles filled with Falun Gong practitioners drove out. Through the window, policemen could be seen beating practitioners. Police vehicles left the square with the practitioners inside yelling: "Falun Dafa is good!" The crowd had just calmed down when suddenly there was another stir in another part of the Square. The police vehicles drove over. Many plainclothes policemen ran over. A group of people were encircled over there. Some people were pushed into the police vehicles and someone was shouting: "Falun Dafa is righteous!" The crazed policemen beat practitioners brutally. Again, a police vehicle was filled with people. When the police vehicle passed by, people saw through a window a practitioner holding an infant. A shoe was left behind the moving vehicle. Tourists who witnessed the scene felt saddened.
Throughout the whole morning the crowd would form circles here and there, and the police vehicles kept moving.
