(Minghui.org) Falun Dafa practitioners in Texas held a rally in front of the Austin State Assembly building on the afternoon of April 24, 2025 to mark the 26^th anniversary of the April 25 Appeal. Angela Paxton, Member of the Texas State Senate, addressed the rally.

On April 25, 1999, approximately 10,000 practitioners went to the State Appeals Office in Beijing to ask for the right to practice Falun Dafa (Falun Gong) freely in China. This incident, also known as the April 25 Appeal, was praised by foreign media as “the largest, most peaceful appeal in China’s modern history.” The courage shown by practitioners in upholding Falun Dafa, as well as their peaceful, rational demeanor, was applauded around the world.

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) claimed that practitioners “besieged” Zhongnanhai. Three months later, in July, the regime began to persecute Falun Dafa. Since then, practitioners all over the world have held various activities every year around this time to commemorate the peaceful protest to expose the persecution and show people how Falun Dafa practitioners as a group conduct themselves.

Practitioners in Texas held a rally in front of the Austin State Assembly building to commemorate the April 25 appeal.

Practitioners do the Falun Dafa exercises.

Practitioner tell passersby about the persecution and ask them to sign a petition calling for an end to the atrocities.

Falun Dafa Practitioners Stand by Their Conviction and Uphold Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance

Sean Yang, President of the Southern USA Falun Dafa Association, spoke at the rally.

Sean Yang, President of the Southern USA Falun Dafa Association, spoke at the rally and pointed out that after the peaceful protest on April 25, 1999, the CCP soon launched the brutal persecution. During this 26 year long suppression, thousands of practitioners were tortured to death while detained in prison or labor camps. Even elderly practitioners over 80 years old were not spared. What’s even more shocking is that Falun Dafa practitioners became the main source of live organ harvesting in China.

Mr. Yang said, “Whether in China or other parts of the world, Falun Dafa practitioners are the kindest, most upright group of people, and all they ask for is spiritual elevation, not fame and gain in the secular world. Despite the brutal persecution, practitioners have never retaliated with violence. Instead, they expose the truth about the suppression with a kind heart and never bow to the evil.”

Member of Texas State Senate: I Am Very Honored to Stand With Falun Gong Practitioners in Opposing This Persecution

Angela Paxton, Member of the Texas State Senate, gave a speech at the rally.

Angela Paxton said that Falun Gong practitioners in her electorate came to her office to see her. They told her their experiences – what is Falun Gong, as well as the persecution that they, their family members, and friends in China went through including arrests, torture and worse still, organ harvesting. She found it hard to imagine the CCP carried out such heinous crimes, yet it’s true.

She said, “As a result of this meeting, at the Texas state Senate two terms ago, the Senate and House of Representatives passed the Senate Concurrent Resolution 3 (SCR3), ‘Condemning China’s practice of involuntary organ harvesting’.”

She added, “At the last Senate session, Senator Lois Kolkhorst and I coauthored Senate Bill 1040, a bill to combat the practice of forcibly removing human organs for transplant (Forced Organ Harvesting). This is America’s first legislation against forced organ harvesting and I am incredibly proud of it. Many of you here were present as witnesses. This is not only admirable, but showed your extraordinary courage.”

State Senator Angela Paxton published a post on X (Twitter) after speaking at the rally to commemorate the April 25 Beijing protest. (Screenshot of her post)

Chinese and Western Practitioners Expose the CCP’s Brutal Acts

Several Chinese and Western Falun Gong practitioners from various cities spoke at the rally.

Yao Yanhui from China began practicing Falun Dafa in 1996. He worked in Huludao, Liaoning Province in 1999 and took part in the April 25 peaceful protest. When he heard that practitioners were arrested by the police in Tianjin, he took the train to Beijing with other practitioners to appeal for their release. They went to the State Appeals Office when they arrived that morning. Everyone stood quietly, and no one shouted or made a scene. They were later told that the problem was resolved, so he returned home.

Yao Yanhui said, “I went to appeal again on September 24 the same year and I was arrested. My legs were shackled, I was brutally beaten and told to give up my belief. When I refused, I was sentenced to 3 years in a labor camp. At the labor camp in Huludao, I was brutally tortured. A police officer threatened me: ‘If you don’t stop practicing Falun Gong , we will send you to a faraway place and you will never be able to return.’ When I still refused to give up my belief, they beat me for over 10 hours. My face was so swollen that it was deformed, I could not lift my arms and lost consciousness. All my teeth fell out and I had no choice but to change all my teeth when I came to the U.S.”

Because he refused to give up practicing Falun Gong, he was transferred to the labor camp in Fushun City. “I was not allowed to sleep for 8 days and nights in a row. My legs were tied with rope and I was half hung from the wall. My legs were paralyzed from the torture and for several months afterwards, I was bedridden. I went on a hunger strike in February 2002 and was released when I was on the brink of death. However, many Falun Gong practitioners are not as fortunate. Several practitioners around me including Wang Huachen, Chen Dewen, Fan Dezhen, Peng Geng, and Zou Guirong were tortured to death. I was able to walk out of prison alive thanks to the help of countless people in China and overseas.”

Keith Ware spoke about his experience of practicing Falun Gong.

Keith Ware, who spoke at the rally, drove 9 hours from El Paso to attend the event.

He said that his legs were severely damaged from sports and he had trouble walking. A reputable surgeon suggested that he go for a risky operation, but he could not guarantee it would be successful. After practicing Falun Gong for 3 months, his legs miraculously recovered. Similarly, his wife suffered from Raynaud's syndrome, and the blood circulation in her hands was terrible. She gradually recovered through practicing Falun Gong and is able to do the exercises without wearing gloves in the cold winter.

On February 15, 2002, Keith and twelve Western practitioners from all over the world went to Tiananmen Square in Beijing. They did the exercises and held up a banner with the words “Falun Dafa is good” in a peaceful protest against the persecution. He spoke of the experience at the rally: “We wanted to let the Chinese people know, Falun Gong is good, there are people practicing it all over the world.”

Keith concluded his speech by saying, “We come here today to stop the CCP’s massacre. Thank you Senator Paxton for standing with us. We hope more people learn of the persecution.”

Practitioners Raise Awareness of the Persecution

After the rally, practitioners demonstrated the Falun Gong exercises, accompanied by the relaxing music. The peaceful scene caught the attention of those who passed by the area.

Matthew, a resident of Austin, came over to chat with practitioners. Through a family member who went to China as a missionary, he knew the CCP does not tolerate religion or people who promote an ideology other than Communism. The regime even changed the Bible. Matthew said he is interested in meditation and Falun Gong resonates with him. When he discovered that there is a practice site in Austin very close to where he lives, he was delighted and said he would learn the exercises.

A couple from Mexico said they plan to learn Falun Gong when they return home after seeing practitioners demonstrate the exercises.

A couple from Mexico on vacation were drawn to practitioners doing the exercises. When they learned that they can read the teachings and learn the exercises online, as well as contact local practitioners in their area, they were thrilled and said they plan to learn it when they return home.

Background: What Is the April 25 Appeal?

Falun Dafa (also known as Falun Gong) was first introduced to the public by Mr. Li Hongzhi in Changchun, China, in 1992. The spiritual discipline is now practiced in over 100 countries worldwide. Millions of people have embraced the teachings—which are based on the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance as well as five gentle exercises—and experienced improved health and well-being.

On April 23 & 24, 1999, police officials in Tianjin, a city near Beijing, assaulted and arrested dozens of practitioners who had gathered outside a magazine office to discuss errors in a recently-published article attacking Falun Dafa. As word spread of the arrests and more practitioners inquired with officials, they were told they had to take their appeals to Beijing.

The following day, April 25, some 10,000 Falun Dafa practitioners spontaneously gathered at the Central Appeals office in Beijing, as they had been instructed by Tianjin officials. The gathering was peaceful and orderly. Several Falun Dafa representatives were called in to meet with Chinese Premier, Zhu Rongji, and members of his staff. That evening, practitioners' concerns were answered. The arrested practitioners in Tianjin were released and everyone went home.

Jiang Zemin, former head of the CCP, perceived the spiritual discipline’s growing popularity as a threat to the CCP’s atheistic ideology and issued an order to ban Falun Dafa on July 20, 1999.

Minghui.org has confirmed the deaths of thousands of practitioners due to the persecution over the years; the actual number is suspected to be much higher. More have been imprisoned and tortured for their faith.

There is concrete evidence that the CCP sanctions the harvesting of organs from detained practitioners, who are murdered to supply the organ transplant industry.