(Minghui.org) Falun Dafa practitioners held an awareness day in Harrisburg, the capital of Pennsylvania, on October 29, 2025, calling on lawmakers to pay attention to the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) persecution and its increasing transnational repression in the U.S.
Falun Dafa (Falun Gong) practitioners held activities in Pennsylvania’s capitol building on October 29.
The activities included visits to legislators’ offices and a press conference. The event was supported by legislators of both political parties. Pennsylvania Republican State Senator Doug Mastriano and Democratic State Senator Sharif Street attended the press conference and delivered speeches.
State Senator Doug Mastriano was interviewed after Falun Dafa Awareness Day,
Senator Mastriano sent a memo to all the members of the Senate the day before the awareness day and said he would introduce a resolution to condemn the CCP’s persecution and its transnational repression.
In his memo, Senator Mastriano wrote that the planned resolution was prompted by the CCP’s “acts of transnational repression targeting American citizens and residents, including those here in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.” He noted that such actions, “represent not only a grave human rights crisis, but also a direct assault on American sovereignty, civil liberties, and freedom of conscience.
“Inspiration for the resolution is to call upon our federal government to pay attention and demand that the CCP stops its persecution, its organ harvesting, and let these people just walk as free men and women,” Senator Mastriano said.
During the press conference, Senator Mastriano said that the persecution is facilitated by international silence driven by economic interests: “For far too long, because of trade and money, many nations have looked away silently, all because of economics. But silence in the face of evil is complicity. You’re part of the problem if you’re standing aside.”
Legislators From Both Parties Condemn the Persecution
State Senator Sharif Street speaks at the news conference on October 29.
At the press conference, Senator Sharif Street stressed the universal rights of freedom of belief and expression: “No group of people, Falun Dafa or any others, should be persecuted for their beliefs, for wanting to peacefully express their religious and cultural beliefs, for wanting to meditate, for wanting to be able to share their beliefs with other people.”
He said the CCP regime should, “Do its best to respect the rights and the human integrity of each of its citizens.” He added that he felt an obligation to use his office to stand against oppression “wherever I find it in the world.”
Senator Mastriano further condemned the violence. He said that the practice of forced organ harvesting is “one of the most brutal things I’ve heard about in my lifetime. And it must end today.” He also expressed profound concern over transnational repression, saying, “No foreign police, no foreign intelligence, should have power in our country.”
Condemning the Forced Organ Harvesting
Jessica Russo, a representative from Doctors Against Forced Organ Harvesting (DAFOH), spoke at the event.
DAFOH representative Jessica Russo spoke at the event and described the scale of the brutality. Russo explained that Falun Gong practitioners make up the largest number victims of forced organ harvesting in China, which involves killing prisoners of conscience for their organs.
She said it is estimated that, “Every hour someone is being killed by forced organ harvesting.” She characterized the practice as primarily a “crime of genocide” driven by the CCP’s desire to eliminate any group that does not follow party lines.
Organizer: Protecting Freedom Is Critical
Alex Luchansky, who organized the event, said there is an urgent need to address the CCP’s growing interference in the U.S.
Luchansky said that, while the persecution was horrific inside China, it has recently escalated, with practitioners and affiliated organizations being “directly targeted with threats or their events being interrupted or interfered with.” He stressed that it is critical to protect freedoms in the United States “because if, today, the Chinese Communist Party succeeds, then tomorrow, it can target any group, any belief system, any organization.
“We’re greatly thankful to honorable Senator Mastriano and to Senator Street, who were able to come and voice their support and give us that important help and support that we so much needed,” he said.
Practitioners demonstrate the exercises.
Practitioners talk to legislative staffers at the event in the Pennsylvania State Capitol in Harrisburg.
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