United States: Long Island Residents Sign their Names to Oppose the Persecution of Falun Gong

The town of Smithtown on Long Island, New York celebrated its "Smithtown Annual Festival Day" on June 12, 2005. Over 400 companies and individual business people from Long Island set up their stalls in the early morning. The atmosphere was warm and lively. Falun Gong practitioners on Long Island also came to the festival. They handed out leaflets and other materials to visitors. Almost everyone happily accepted the materials and read them carefully.

People come to learn about Falun Gong, sign the petition to support Falun Gong and oppose the persecution

Practitioners also set up a stall, and hung a banner reading, "Falun Dafa is Good." Below the banner were photos and illustrations exposing the persecution of Falun Gong in China. Beside the banner was a table where a long white cloth was spread for people to sign their names. Some practitioners handed out leaflets, some practised the exercises and some talked with visitors.

One resident of Long Island listened to a practitioner's explanation and said, "The world media all report on wars and murder around the world, but no media report on such an event as severe as the persecution of Falun Gong. It's unfair." She also said that she would help practitioners hand out materials near Long Island University.

Some people felt anger to wards the Chinese Communist Party for selling products made by slave labour in China's labour camps to the US. They said that people should go all out to stop such acts. Some people wanted to learn the Falun Gong exercises. Most people were very happy to accept information materials, and many people signed their names to support opposing the persecution. There were several occasions in the course of the day that people were lined up waiting to sign their names. When the activity concluded, the white cloth was covered with names.