Man Allegedly Attacks Elderly Falun Gong Practitioner in Southern California

Witnesses say the man attempted to destroy Falun Gong-related materials and then assaulted May Zhang multiple times.

May Zhang (L) holds a banner with another Falun Gong practitioner in the City of Industry, Calif., on April 19, 2026. The banner reads: “Heaven Eliminates the CCP,” “Quit the CCP,” “Love China ≠ Love the CCP,” and “The CCP ≠ China.” The Epoch Times

A man allegedly attempted to destroy materials at a site that raises awareness of the ongoing persecution of Falun Gong in China and attacked an elderly woman in the City of Industry, California, on April 19.

The incident occurred near a local plaza. The man, described by witnesses as a middle-aged Asian, allegedly tore down information banners, snatched them, and then assaulted May Zhang multiple times. He verbally threatened her, then attacked her with iron rods, stones, and a tree branch, according to the 70-year-old Falun Gong practitioner, who was injured in the assault.

Zhang told The Epoch Times that she was handing out Falun Gong information pamphlets alongside a practitioner, talking to passersby about the Chinese regime’s persecution of Falun Gong, and advising passing Chinese to quit the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its affiliated organizations.

The “Quit the CCP” movement (also known as the “Tuidang Movement”) is a grassroots campaign by Chinese people to resist the CCP’s tyranny. Since the publication of The Epoch Times’ editorial series “Nine Commentaries on the Chinese Communist Party” in November 2004, more than 460 million Chinese have withdrawn from the CCP and its affiliated organizations, according to the Global Service Center for Quitting the Chinese Communist Party, as of April 21.

Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a spiritual practice centered on the principles of truth, compassion, and tolerance. Introduced to the public in China in the early 1990s, it gained widespread popularity, reaching between 70 million and 100 million practitioners by the end of the decade, according to official estimates at the time.

In July 1999, the CCP, fearing that Falun Gong’s popularity threatened the regime’s power, launched a brutal campaign to eradicate the practice. Since then, many have suffered arbitrary detention, forced labor, torture, and even death from forced organ harvesting.

The Alleged Attack

Zhang told The Epoch Times that the assailant had carried several iron rods with him.

She said she and another Falun Gong practitioner had hung several banners on one side of the street. One banner displayed the following phrases: “Heaven Eliminates the CCP,” “The CCP ≠ China,” “Love China ≠ Love the CCP,” and “Quit the CCP.”

Zhang was on the opposite side of the street, talking to passersby. When she saw the man tearing down the banners, she walked across the street to see what was going on.

According to Zhang, she explained to the man that the banners were her personal property and said she would be happy to answer any questions he had. But the man yelled at her and threatened her, telling her to step back. Then he walked away with the banners. Zhang, hoping to recover her banners, followed him.

Initially, the man allegedly threw stones at her to frighten her away. However, as he noticed Zhang continuing to follow him, his attack intensified, she recalled. She noted it appeared the man was ready for confrontation, as he was armed with iron rods.

“When I was about three feet away from him, he pulled out several thin iron rods and threw them at my eyes and face, as if he were throwing darts. Luckily, I dodged them all,” Zhang said.

The iron rods the assailant allegedly used to attack May Zhang, in the City of Industry, Calif., on April 19, 2026. The Epoch Times

Zhang said she planned on retrieving the banners because she and her fellow Falun Gong practitioners used their own resources to produce them.

“So at the time, I simply hoped to find a suitable opportunity to ask him to return them to me,” Zhang said.

She continued to follow him but remained cautious, keeping a greater distance.

When the assailant arrived at a nearby plaza, Zhang caught up to him and asked again for the banners. She said that the man then grabbed a thick branch from under a tree and swung it at the back of her head. The branch snapped under the force of the blow. Zhang felt a sharp pain in her head and grew dizzy. Her arm was struck, and her finger quickly swelled as she tried to block the blow with her arm.

The incident drew attention in the plaza. Zhang recalled someone shouting, “Catch him!” A group of people ran over and subdued the assailant.

The local police arrived quickly and arrested him, she said.

Transnational Repression

The CCP has extended its persecution of Falun Gong overseas through its agents and secret police stations, among other tactics, to target Falun Gong practitioners and organizations set up by Falun Gong practitioners around the world.

A recent documentary—“Unbroken: The Untold Story of Shen Yun”—reveals CCP-linked smear campaigns and interference targeting the company Shen Yun Performing Arts, which was founded by Falun Gong practitioners in 2006 in New York with a mission to revive Chinese traditional culture and showcase China before communist takeover.

Zhang noted that the assailant’s accent didn’t sound like mainland Chinese. However, he “obviously harbored hatred” toward Falun Gong when he spoke, she said.

Since the persecution began, Zhang said that Falun Gong practitioners have volunteered inside China and overseas to clarify the facts about the practice, help people understand the true nature of the CCP, and encourage Chinese people to cut ties with the Party.

“We have one hope that all Chinese people will withdraw from the CCP and its affiliated organizations,“ Zhang told The Epoch Times. ”As the saying goes, ‘What goes around comes around.’ The CCP has done so much wrong, it’s not going to end well. Quitting the CCP will bring them hope and a good future.”

She expressed her appreciation to the local people and police for keeping the community safe.

“The U.S. is a free society, and people have freedom of belief and expression,” Zhang said, warning that CCP-linked assaults are a “threat to the local community.”

Li Youfu, president of the California-based U.S. Southwestern Dafa Association, has condemned the CCP’s suppression of Falun Gong and the CCP’s transnational repression.

“The CCP’s transnational repression of faith and human rights has become desperate and extreme—but they still can’t stop us from getting the truth out,” Li told The Epoch Times.

He said that U.S. authorities have charged multiple suspected CCP agents for targeting Falun Gong in the United States, and that he believes the U.S. government will bring more agents to justice.

“We also urge these CCP agents to cut ties with the CCP before it’s too late, and start living honestly,” Li said.

Violent attacks on Falun Gong practitioners also took place in Sydney, Australia, and in New York earlier this year.