Demonstrators Violently Assaulted at Cheng Li-wun's Speech

On June 14, while Kuomintang (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun was delivering a speech on cross-strait relations in Monterey Park, Los Angeles, a scene unfolded that stood starkly at odds with the event's theme of "dialogue and cooperation": several U.S.-based Chinese pro-democracy activists who had come to protest peacefully were subjected to violence by people at the venue.
According to on-scene video and multiple eyewitnesses, some protesters who had been admitted to the hall were forcibly gagged, dragged, and pinned to the ground as they rose to question the speaker and voice their dissent. Democracy activist Yue Zailin was restrained by a male attendee who pressed down on his neck; he cried out in pain as a crowd looked on and filmed. Others attempted to grab protesters' phones and demanded that the recorded footage be deleted. After arriving and reviewing the recordings, police released the protesters on the spot.
In the United States, peaceful assembly and freedom of expression are explicitly protected under the First Amendment. Whatever the political stance of the person being challenged, and however unpleasant the wording of that challenge may be, silencing dissenters by covering their mouths, dragging them, and choking them crosses a line that no democratic society can permit.
The refusal to tolerate a jarring voice is itself proof that the voice has struck a nerve. Genuine dialogue rests on guaranteeing everyone's right to speak, not on using fists and feet to shut the other side up.
We condemn all violence against peaceful protesters. We call on those affected to preserve evidence, seek medical attention to document their injuries, and pursue legal avenues to hold the perpetrators and other responsible parties accountable. We further urge the organizers and all parties to keep order at such events and to confront disagreement through reason rather than physical force.