SAN FRANCISCO—A pro-Tibet female protester who climbed onto the roof of the Chinese Consulate in San Francisco on Wednesday. Aug. 6 to stage a mock hanging to protest the Chinese regime’s treatment of Tibetans fell when her suspension ropes were allegedly cut by consulate personnel.
Two students, Nyendak Wangden, 22, and Brianne Morgan, 26, scaled to the roof of the Chinese Consulate during a peaceful pre-Olympics demonstration in support of Tibet. Staging a mock hanging, Wangden hung suspended a few feet from the roof on climbing ropes. She wore a black monk’s robe and held a sign that read “Stop the killing in Tibet!”
Morgan tended Wangden’s ropes when she said she was attacked by a member of the Chinese Consulate security who allegedly cut the anchor ropes which caused Wangden’s fall from more than 15 feet off the building.
“I was yelling that Nyendak [Wangden] was being supported by only her lines and that cutting the lines would mean that she would fall and die,” said Morgan on Thursday, Aug. 7 outside the San Francisco Federal Court.
Wangden, who suffered a fractured wrist and a fractured radius bone from the fall, received treatment at the San Francisco General Hospital.
“I’m lucky to be alive,” said Wangden.
Wangden said that if the Chinese Consulate can cut her rope and let her fall, she fears of what might be happening inside Tibet. She said that as a Tibetan who lives outside Tibet she stood up for the people struggling in Tibet.
Both women, members of Students for a Free Tibet, were accused of “forcibly thrusting” themselves on a building used as a foreign diplomatic mission. If convicted, the protesters face a maximum penalty of six months in prison.
Wangden’s attorney Derek St. Pierre, said that he had the chance to inspect the anchor and the climbing ropes. The ropes weren’t frayed, but both were cut with a sharp object, either a knife or scissors, according to Pierre.
A Chinese Consulate spokesman condemned the intrusion.
Wangden and Morgan were released on $25,000 bail, and will return in court on Aug. 20.
Two students, Nyendak Wangden, 22, and Brianne Morgan, 26, scaled to the roof of the Chinese Consulate during a peaceful pre-Olympics demonstration in support of Tibet. Staging a mock hanging, Wangden hung suspended a few feet from the roof on climbing ropes. She wore a black monk’s robe and held a sign that read “Stop the killing in Tibet!”
Morgan tended Wangden’s ropes when she said she was attacked by a member of the Chinese Consulate security who allegedly cut the anchor ropes which caused Wangden’s fall from more than 15 feet off the building.
“I was yelling that Nyendak [Wangden] was being supported by only her lines and that cutting the lines would mean that she would fall and die,” said Morgan on Thursday, Aug. 7 outside the San Francisco Federal Court.
Wangden, who suffered a fractured wrist and a fractured radius bone from the fall, received treatment at the San Francisco General Hospital.
“I’m lucky to be alive,” said Wangden.
Wangden said that if the Chinese Consulate can cut her rope and let her fall, she fears of what might be happening inside Tibet. She said that as a Tibetan who lives outside Tibet she stood up for the people struggling in Tibet.
Both women, members of Students for a Free Tibet, were accused of “forcibly thrusting” themselves on a building used as a foreign diplomatic mission. If convicted, the protesters face a maximum penalty of six months in prison.
Wangden’s attorney Derek St. Pierre, said that he had the chance to inspect the anchor and the climbing ropes. The ropes weren’t frayed, but both were cut with a sharp object, either a knife or scissors, according to Pierre.
A Chinese Consulate spokesman condemned the intrusion.
Wangden and Morgan were released on $25,000 bail, and will return in court on Aug. 20.
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