NEW YORK—Residents of Flushing, Queens, said they have endured a six-year-long nightmare on the streets of their community, and they have sued in federal court seeking to stop it. The lawsuit alleges that an ongoing campaign has targeted the 13 plaintiffs with beatings, harassment, and death threats.
At issue in the complaint are the rights of New Yorkers to the constitutionally guaranteed practice of the religion of one’s choice and the enjoyment of peaceful access to streets and other public spaces.
The case targets a Beijing-linked organization called the Chinese Anti-Cult World Alliance and four named individuals and several unnamed defendants who are said to have conspired in a campaign of violence and intimidation beginning in the fall of 2008.
The plaintiffs in the suit are individuals who either practice the spiritual discipline Falun Gong or who are alleged to have been mistaken for Falun Gong practitioners. The complaint alleges that police have not been able to protect residents who are being victimized, and that, unless the court acts, the attacks will only worsen.
Violence, Death Threats, and Insults
The complaint filed on March 3 in the United States District Court of the Eastern District of New York describes in detail close to 40 incidents where the defendants have threatened or attacked the plaintiffs. Many of the cases were previously documented by Epoch Times.
Taken together, the series of incidents give a picture of a community under siege. Walking down the street, handing out a flier describing Falun Gong, manning a table where Falun Gong religious literature is given out, taking a picture—such acts are said to have inspired the defendants to deliver beatings, insults, and death threats.
For instance, on March 6, 2013, the complaint relates how the plaintiffs Li Xiurong and Cao Lijun were walking down Main Street in Flushing when defendant Li Huahong attacked them. The defendant is then said to have requested backup, whereupon a mob of 20 to 30 people surrounded the two Falun Gong practitioners.
