Under a Bright Sky, a Call to End a Dark Persecution

Falun Gong practitioners gather to protest the Chinese regime’s 19-year-long campaign against them

Falun Gong practitioners demonstrate the disciplines exercises in front of the Washington Monument on July 19, 2018. Mark Zou/Epoch Times

WASHINGTON—On a warm, sunny day, a group of around 600 people gathered at the Washington Monument with a most gloomy message: “19 Years of Torture; 19 Years of Murder; 19 Years Too Long,” said one banner. They gathered to call for an end to the now 19-year-long persecution of Falun Gong in China, which started on July 20, 1999.

Each of the speakers and participants at the rally had a different story to tell.