(Clearwisdom.net) On June 25, 2004, the day before the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, Falun Gong practitioners in Tampa and Orlando held an anti-torture exhibition at Joe Chillura Courthouse Square in downtown Tampa. The exhibition touched many people's hearts and four main TV stations showed up to cover the event and interview practitioners.
Anti-torture exhibition |
| Media interview |
| Audience |
The exhibition included photos of Falun Gong practitioners in China after torture, drawings showing torture methods used in China to torture Falun Gong practitioners and live exhibitions of two torture methods: confinement in a small cage and the "tiger bench" (For more information http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2001/11/24/16156.html). Passers-by and drivers in passing cars could see the banner reading, "This is happening in China" and the two live torture exhibits.
The Courthouse Square faces the Hillsborough County government building. Many county staff and passers-by stopped to ask practitioners for more information, look at the posters, and sign our petition . Many of them expressed sympathy for the Falun Gong practitioners in China and admired the practitioners for not giving up their belief under brutal persecution.
A woman who works in the county government took a whole stack of truth-clarification literature from a practitioner after learning about the facts and said, "I'll tell all the people in my office about the persecution in China."
Another woman from the county government told the practitioners that her office received a call from Chinese Consulate. The caller said that they were unhappy that the county government issued a proclamation honoring Falun Gong. The woman told the practitioners that the county official receiving the call answered, "You cannot tell us what we should do!"