In front of the U.S. Capitol on the evening of July 11, the National Mall was dotted with tears, memories, and thousands of candle flames. Falun Gong practitioners gathered there for a candlelight vigil in memory of those killed by the Chinese communist regime for practicing their faith.
July 20 will mark the 25th anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party’s brutal persecution of Falun Gong. As many world leaders concluded their week in Washington with the NATO summit coming to a close, Falun Gong practitioners sat quietly on the lawn with candles in hand—a sight that drew a somber mood to the epicenter of global politics. Many of them held portraits of fellow practitioners in China, each of which bore the story of a Falun Gong practitioner who had died at the hands of Chinese authorities.