Assaulted While Filming, Woman Takes Case to Court

The Queens Criminal Court began court hearings on Oct. 13 regarding an alleged assault that took place last year in Flushing.

Judy Chen recounts her experience of being attacked, lending support to Zhang Derong, whose case against He Xu appeared in the Queens County Criminal Court on Oct. 13. Matthew Robertson/The Epoch Times

NEW YORK—A Chinese woman capturing a scene of harassment on film herself became an unexpected target of violence and bigotry. Now, the pieces are being picked up in court.

The Queens Criminal Court began court hearings on Oct. 13 regarding an alleged assault that took place last year in Flushing, part of a string of incidents of violence and discrimination against Falun Gong practitioners in the area.

Zhang Derong, a practitioner of the Falun Gong spiritual discipline, spoke about the case before entering the court at midday.

Last year on Oct. 4, Zhang was in Flushing and witnessed Democratic District Leader Martha Flores-Vazquez being harassed by Chinese men. The men, who are accused of being part of an organized campaign to intimidate and attack Falun Gong practitioners in Flushing during that time, apparently had mistaken Flores-Vazquez herself for a Falun Gong practitioner and began harassing her.

Seeing the scene, Zhang began filming and in the course of events was attacked by He Xu, the defendant in the case heard on Tuesday.

Zhang believes the men have an association with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), which continues to persecute Falun Gong in China.