A man has been arrested for allegedly using vandalism to disrupt a vigil being held in remembrance of Dr. Li Wenliang, the whistleblower who sounded the alarm about the COVID-19 pandemic in Wuhan.
The vigil took place in front of the Chinese Consulate in Los Angeles, with about 50 people in attendance, on Feb. 4.
Jie Li-Jian, the person in charge of the event, told Epoch Times sister media NTD that the man is suspected of being a supporter of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
The man was first seen walking over to the event from a small road at the side of the consulate building. Then he stood among the crowd.
Eventually, he began to destroy the display boards and candles that were commemorating Dr. Li.
“He came out of nowhere, knocked down the wreaths, kicked our candles, and then he tried to grab and pull down the white cloth used for projection behind the candles. He also tried to kick a lady who was preparing and lighting the candles; she was forced to run away. He then bumped into a pregnant woman behind him,” Jie said.
When the attendees saw that the man wasn’t going to stop, they restrained him and called the police.
“Before the police officers arrived, he threatened everyone by saying that you people would all die miserably. After the police officers showed up, they tackled him immediately. The officers also found a black branch knife with him after a thorough body search,” said Jie.
Attendees at the vigil expressed their refusal to forget Dr. Li Wenliang or others who have died of the virus.
They said they won’t forgive the CCP for the tragedies caused by its handling of the pandemic over the last three years.
Dr. Li was one of the doctors in China who first informed the public about the threat of COVID-19 in late December 2019. At that time, it was only known as an unknown form of pneumonia spreading in Wuhan.
