Witness Reports: Happenings in Tiananmen Square Around National Day

More than 1,000 Dafa practitioners were arrested in Tiananmen Square on October 6 At 11am on October 6, practitioners were distributing flyers and reciting Hongyin in front of the Zhongshan Statue at Tiananmen Square when police began to arrest them. Most practitioners were not willing to be removed by the police; nonetheless, they were still carried onto the buses by police. While the police were dispersing the crowd, practitioners stepped forward now and then to stop the police from detaining other practitioners or to tell the crowd that Falun Dafa is good. Many practitioners were taken away because they told the surrounding tourists that Falun Dafa was good. Practitioners were taken to the Tiananmen Police Station, and then they were immediately moved to the Dongcheng Detention Center in Changping county (it was not clear if all of the arrested practitioners were sent there). According to a practitioner, there were all together three large buses full of practitioners there. It was said that such a bus could carry up to 500 people. Thus, at least 1,500 practitioners were arrested. As far as I have seen, 5 out of the 10 buses that parked in front of the History Museum departed before 12 pm. Therefore, approximately 2,500 to 3,000 practitioners were taken away in the morning. The materials practitioners distributed included "Our Appeal" as well as some other materials clarifying the truth and disclosing the facts against Jiang Zemin. Practitioner from Mainland China October 6, 2000 We arrived at Tiananmen Square at about 9:30 am. There were a lot of tourists, but nothing unusual could be seen. At about 10:30am, we saw 8 police vans arrive in front of the Zhongshan Statue. The police began to arrest practitioners. After the vans were fully loaded, they immediately left. At 11am, ten more vans arrived at the Zhongshan Statue, hoping to encompass this sensitive area. The police began to arrest more practitioners. At that time, there were several spots where some flyers stating "Our Appeal" were handed out to people. Police in plainclothes immediately came up to arrest the practitioners, as well as to pick up the flyers from the ground and put them in their pockets. At that time, more police in plainclothes came and began to gather in front of the Memorial Tablet [center of the square] from all directions. They began to disperse the crowd. There were always some practitioners that distributed Falun Gong flyers during that time. Within that short 20 minutes, police in plainclothes surrounded most of the area from the Memorial Tablet to the National Flag. None of the tourists were allowed to enter. They withdrew soon afterwards. It was not clear how many practitioners were arrested today. It was estimated to be about several hundred to 1,000. Most of them were practitioners who distributed flyers, or those who were identified as Dafa practitioners. Police were very well prepared today. Many police were positioned around or in Tiananmen Square. In the square, there were plainclothes agents in groups of three or four almost everywhere. There were two kinds of plainclothes, military plainclothes agents and plainclothes police. The formers were all in there twenties, wearing blue suits. They were easy to discern. But the plainclothes police were not so easy to recognize, most of whom also carried cellular phones. To the east of People Hero Memorial Tablet, there were dozens of vehicles of all sorts, including more than ten large buses with young military police. There were also 5 or 6 buses of this kind west of the People Hero Memorial Tablet. In front of the History Museum, there were 10 big buses. Military police from the History Museum went onto the buses and were distributed to all locations of Tiananmen Square. It was estimated that many military police were also waiting under History Museum. Practitioners in Mainland China October 6, 2000 Report from Tiananmen Square After a thousand Falun Gong practitioners were brutally suppressed in Tiananmen Square on October 1, practitioners from all over the country went to appeal in Beijing. Although local governments used many methods to keep them under surveillance, hoping to stop them, some practitioners still made it and gathered in Beijing. After learning that Falun Gong practitioners would appeal in Tiananmen Square at 10am on October 5, an urgent conference was held within the police system the evening of October 4 and a series of persecutions were arranged. Although it was sunny on October 5, the atmosphere seemed to be filled with horror at Tiananmen Square. There were more than 30 buses with policemen inside who were waiting for orders in front of the History Museum. Twenty more buses for arresting practitioners hid behind the People's Great Hall. Plainclothes agents were distributed densely everywhere in the square. They kept an eye on every tourist. There were some tourists being interrogated and searched because they were suspected to be Dafa practitioners. There were not any large scale appeals on October 5. But there were still some practitioners doing the exercises in small groups. Among them, there was a senior couple in there 60s that were practicing under the National Flag. Police arrested them within one minute. Then about six practitioners began to practice, but plainclothes agents rushed to them and hustled them away. At the same time, another group appeared again. Police ran here and there. About one hundred people were arrested. On October 6, it was cloudy in Beijing. At about 10 am, many practitioners went to Tiananmen Square to clarify the truth, and validate Dafa. At about 11am, some practitioners began to do the exercises in front of the Zhongshan Statue. Some brutal "people's policemen" ran over to them, kicked them to ground, stepped on them and grabbed them by their arms. They even posed for photographing, which lasted about one minute. Many practitioners (about 4,000 practitioners) saw this scene and shouted, "Stop beating people." But these brutal police would not listen to this. More and more policemen came up. They kicked, slapped, and beat up practitioners. One practitioner was beaten down by 5 policemen and blood ran down from his mouth. Li Xinjian, a practitioner from Weifang city [Shandong province] had his head stepped on while on the ground and was beaten up. His face was bruised to a dark black and blue. One practitioner was beaten for chanting "Falun Dafa is the righteous Fa" and for stopping some police from beating people. Many female practitioners were dragged by their hair. The tourists were stunned upon seeing this. Someone said with great concern, "I couldnt imagine that the police could beat people so brutally." Even while being in such a difficult situation, practitioners were still compassionate to the police and persuaded them stop beating. They chanted "Falun Dafa is good. Falun Dafa is the righteous Fa." "Eliminate the evil!" "Dafa is innocent!" In this way, practitioners validated Dafa for more than ten minutes, which shocked the entire square. Police viciously packed all practitioners into police buses, one after another... One foreign tourist was taken away by police for photographing several pictures. Although the brutality continues, more practitioners are still coming to Beijing. We hope those authorities committing horrible acts will stop their reckless behavior that is disgracing China. Practitioner in Mainland China October 6, 2000 Today is October 6. I arrived at Tiananmen Square. Although it was cloudy, there were still many tourists. Six or seven police cars parked behind the Zhongshan Statue, waiting for orders. One police car was slowly driving around in front of the Zhongshan Statue. At 10:40am, there was some commotion in the crowd. Dozens of flyers were fluttering up in the air. Several plainclothes police rushed over immediately. They started to beat those practitioners who distributed flyers and dragged them into police cars. At 11am, policemen were densely distributed in front of the Zhongshan Statue. Shortly after this, some practitioners held up banners and several others stood forward to protect the banners. Police rushed to them and beat them up. The surrounding tourists were pushed backward. Many more police vans arrived. One middle-aged young man ran in the center of the square, holding up a banner. Three plainclothes police knocked him down. One uniformed policeman beat him on the head with a rubber baton. One middle-aged lady sat on the ground and started to sit in the double-leg-crossing position. Police rushed to her and kicked her to the ground. Inspite of the horrible events around them, one young mother with a three-year-old child ran out of the crowd chanting "Falun Dafa is good." In the center of the square, one side had the reckless evil; the other had the cultivators of the righteous bravery. How could one not be moved to tears? The police cars went away. The center of the square reopened. The sky was cloudier. Practitioner in Mainland China October 6, 2000 Police were densely distributed in Tiananmen Square on October 5. On October 5, my son and I went to Tiananmen Square early in the morning to tour around. It was a holiday. There were not very many people or traffic on the street. But the taxi driver said unintentionally, "Be cautious of police in Tiananmen Square. They are arresting Falun Gong practitioners. It is said that tens of thousands of practitioners were detained on October 1." I smiled after hearing this. We got out of the taxi and looked up at the sky. It was cloudy. We entered the square. My son was running here and there in the crowd. He suddenly held my hand and asked, "Why are there so many people watching us?" I looked around. Oh, these men dressed in black suits were surly policemen. How come there were so many of them? Those men dressed in dark green suits were surly military police on duty. Why did they watch everyone and interrogate him or her if they were Falun Gong practitioners? Some rogue-like guys, smoking cigarettes, were watching us too. Was there something wrong today? This atmosphere made me feel uneasy. The National Flag raising location was an important place to visit. We followed other tourists and went there. Police cars were driving here and there in the crowd. Someone said, "When the police cars move, someone must be getting arrested." "Who?" "Demonstrators, such as Falun Gong practitioners." I saw two peasants in their 40s who were sitting on the ground, meditating peacefully. What would happen to them? Suddenly, 5 guys, looking like tourists, came up and took them away. One of them hit the two peasants on their heads. I didn't recognize that they were police officers until then. I did not want to see all of those brutal activities. So I turned to the west. But after a few steps, I saw an uniformed policeman who was forcing an honest-looking couple (with two scared children) to open their bags for checking. Nothing but toothpaste, towels, and some small stuff, no suspicious stuff like banners were found. The police then smiled at the couple and said, "It is not easy for you all to tour around. Have fun." His behavior was disgusting. I could not help laughing at him and he then stared at me. I decided to leave the square. After we crossed the street northeast to the square, and we arrived at the History Museum, I was stunned. I saw that there were several buses parked there. But these buses were from the police. In one single bus, there was over 100 military policemen on board. I looked to the east of the square. They were all police. I didnt take any pictures while at the square. Walking on the street, I wanted to take one photo. Unfortunately, the running police got into my picture. It seemed as though we were back in the horrifying times in the 1940s. Whether Falun Gong practitioners or others, after all they were citizens. They were kind people. Someone said Falun Gong took away the pleasure of the holiday. I would say it was autocracy of the Communist Party that dampened the smiles of the people. The police cars were packed with Falun Gong practitioners, I found their compassionate smiles and forever hope. One tourist on the National holiday October 6, 2000 At about 8am on October 1, 2000, some Falun Dafa practitioners went to appeal in Beijing to validate Dafa. Many policemen, military police and plainclothes agents beat up these practitioners viciously. They abused people included seniors with gray hair, women carrying their babies, and some children. Many practitioners heads were cracked open. Some were pushed down onto the ground. Some had their heads stepped on. Some were even beaten to the point of losing consciousness. Practitioners were dragged into the nearby police vans and buses. Some practitioners lost their shoes while being dragged. Some practitioners pants were torn. Some practitioners bags were left at the square after being beaten and taken away. The facts of violence were countless. The practitioners who were being beaten said, "We are lawful citizens. We have never broken the law. We just want to clarify the truth to the government." Some practitioners chanted, "Falun Dafa is good. Restore innocence to Falun Gong and Master Li." But those policemen said they enjoyed beating people who continued to practice, as well as who said that Master Li was great. Practitioners did not fight back. Their behavior touched many of the kind tourists. Some of them told police not to beat them any more. But the police would not listen. Dafa practitioners have been continually clarifying the truth to the entire world with their kind hearts. They kept on asking kind people to get to know the truth about Falun Dafa, to pay more attention to the maltreatment towards Falun Gong, and to be concerned about the suppression and the brutal measures launched by Jiang Zemin. In such a short time, over a thousand practitioners were taken away. Dozens of police vans were packed with Dafa practitioners. The brutal, reckless behavior stunned thousands of tourists. Some tourists and passengers were illegally interrogated. Police resorted to some low measures. They asked some tourists to swear at Falun Dafa and the Falun Dafa founder. Those who did swear could leave. Others would be arrested. Some kind people did not want to slander Dafa and felt disgusted upon being ask to do so. One male tourist said, "Falun Gong has to be good. Otherwise, how come there are so many people practicing it?" Some plainclothes agents had nothing to say after hearing this. Some tourists took pictures of this with their own cameras. However, wherever there was a flash, the plainclothes police would rush over to ruin the film. It was disgraceful to see that foreign tourists also received maltreatment. Their cameras were grabbed and the film was ruined. After a male foreigner in his 20s took one picture, the plainclothes agents asked him to take the film out right away. This tourist said in Chinese with difficulty, "Just one picture. Just one picture." But the plainclothes agents still pulled the film out and ruined it. A tourist in Tiananmen Square October 1, 2000