FLUSHING, New York City—Residents of Flushing have been physically and verbally attacked on Flushing's streets since May 17. Assailants have been charged with assault, harassment, and criminal mischief.
Local police acknowledge at least 12 arrests during this time, yet at a press conference in his office on Monday, John Liu, the City Councilmember in whose district the attacks are taking place, said, "I know of two arrests that have been made."
The targets of the attacks in all cases have been Falun Gong practitioners. The attackers are suspected to have links to the Chinese Consulate, organized and supported in their attacks by the consul general himself.
"There are some people who I believe are practitioners of Falun Gong and they have been complaining that they've been attacked," said Liu. "I'm going to ask them over again, where is there any kind of evidence that anybody has been attacked?"
Since June 2, Falun Gong practitioners have made repeated attempts to visit, call, and e-mail Liu's office with information about the situation in the streets of Flushing, as well as the persecution of Falun Gong inside China and on American soil.
Falun Gong practitioners have yet to meet with Liu directly in person, but have met with a staff member from his office. Several e-mails and phone calls with requests for appointments with Liu have gone unfulfilled.
Thugs Have Time Reserved in Liu's Office
In contrast, the assailants and others involved in the violence in Flushing had their day in Liu's office Monday after the press conference concluded.
Two Chinese-language newspapers known to be strongly pro-communist, China Press (Chao Bao) and Ming Bao published this notice on June 29: "John Liu will receive resident appeals in his Flushing office next Monday, June 30, between 5-8pm."
The sessions with Liu in his office turned out not to be open to all constituents. More than a dozen Falun Gong practitioners who came to speak with Liu were turned away personally by Liu, including some of those who had made repeated attempts to see him.
According to three staff members at Liu's office, the open office hours were exclusively for community members whose pictures had been published in the media in connection with violence in Flushing.
"We are here today because if there is anybody who has any complaint about any media that has used a photo or their name in a negative way," said Liu to a small crowd of approximately 30 people who were standing in the hallway outside his office.
Liu proceeded to line up several Falun Gong practitioners by name from a sign-up sheet that was posted in his office earlier. After they were lined up, he went down the line and dismissed every person, loudly saying, "Bye! Bye! Bye!" to each individual.
In contrast, one of those individuals received by Liu was Qiu Wei, who is facing hate crime charges after an alleged assault against Falun Gong practitioner John Yu using a metal steering wheel lock.
Falun Gong Practitioners' Requests Unanswered
Jeanne Mitchell visited Liu's office on June 2, along with Wang Weixing, who had been physically attacked in May. Both practice Falun Gong. They met with Shiang Liu, the council member's Director of Community Relations. Two follow-up e-mails went unanswered.
At least three times Falun Gong practitioners have visited Liu's office in person, but none have resulted in a meeting with Liu.
"If [Councilmember Liu] does not speak out against a systematic pattern of violence, then I feel he is actually perpetuating it by his silence," Mitchell said in an e-mail on June 4.
"I appreciate that he is under tremendous pressure under these circumstances and I am truly compassionate regarding his position. If he does not take a stand on the side of justice, I am afraid when the true nature of these crimes is revealed, that he will lose his basis of support as well as the hearts of his constituents. If he does speak up he will win the hearts of the Chinese people, and all people, even though now this is a very difficult thing to do."
Mitchell also mentioned the fact that at least 11 arrests had been made by that date, the point that Liu claimed not to be aware of as late as June 30.
Cooperating to Silence Public Gatherings
At the press conference Monday, Liu was questioned about a newspaper article in which Assemblywoman Ellen Young (NY-22nd Dist.) said she had made an agreement with Liu to limit the ability of Flushing residents who wished to assemble in public places.
The report, published in the Chinese-language newspaper China Press (Chao Bao), reported that Young had "reached a consensus with City Councilmember John Liu and the 109th precinct of the NYPD to no longer issue permits for group activities in high foot-traffic areas."
When questioned by a reporter whether the China Press report was accurate, Liu responded by shouting at the reporter to clarify the question.
"I don't think anybody has talked about limiting anybody's rights," said Liu, who had been handed a copy of the article moments earlier.
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