It was cloudy on October 9. At 11:00AM when I walked to the northeast corner of Tiananmen Square, I saw six brave women (in their 30's to 60's) each holding a banner reading "Falun Dafa is good!" and "Truthfulness, Benevolence and Forbearance". Firm voices calling out "Falun Dafa is good" came from their mouths. Upon seeing this, tens of police and plainclothes immediately ran out from another side of the square, like a pack of wolves. One plainclothes tripped a woman in her 40's and pressed her head onto the ground. Another plainclothes grabbed a woman, also in her 40's, and held her hair tightly. Finally, both women were pushed into a van and taken away. The voices calling out "Falun Dafa is good" could still be heard coming out of the van.
After a short while, another van rushed into the crowd and took away an elderly lady in her 60's who was holding a less than one-year-old child on her chest. A young man in his 30s could not put up with this and he shouted: "Why arrest the child?", attracting lots of attention.
Several minutes later, almost in the same place, two women in their 40's with peaceful smiles on their faces raised a 3-4 meters long banner reading "Falun Dafa is good" while walking to the south. A plainclothes rushed upon and pulled down the banner to the ground and a van immediately took both women away.
Around noon, two other women who were thought to be Falun Gong practitioners were pushed into the van. A two-year-old boy on his mother's chest was so frightened that he cried loudly. This scene was really heart-breaking. A police ordered the mother to stop the kid's crying.
The police had arrested at least 20 Falun Gong practitioners and innocent people by 12:10PM when I left the square.
A Practitioner in Mainland China
October 9, 2000
