FoFG 2026 Rally: Thousands at Lincoln Memorial Call for End to CCP’s Persecution of Falun Gong
Photo caption: Enes Kanter Freedom, human rights advocate and former NBA player, joins Falun Dafa practitioners for the annual rally in Washington on July 23, 2026. Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times
WASHINGTON—Friends of Falun Gong’s (FoFG) 2026 rally drew thousands of people to the Lincoln Memorial on July 23 to commemorate 27 years of peaceful resistance against the Chinese regime’s persecution of Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa.
Former NBA player and human rights advocate Enes Kanter Freedom spoke at the rally.
“While we are comfortably playing basketball in this country, on the other side of the world, people are losing their loved ones, losing their lives, and losing their homes,” Freedom said. His message to lawmakers is: “We are tired of hearing condemnation.”
“We want you to take concrete action against [the] Chinese Communist Party (CCP),” he said.
One lawmaker who is taking action is Rep. Pat Ryan (D-N.Y.), who also attended the rally. His district is home to a sizable Falun Gong population, and he said that for years he has witnessed the community’s unwavering commitment to Falun Gong’s principles of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance.
“[They are] an inspiration and a call to action for every American,” he said in a speech.
Rep. Ryan co-leads the Falun Gong Protection Act, which passed the House in May 2025. A Senate version of it recently advanced, and he pledged to press his Senate colleagues for floor action.
“Seeing this commitment and action, it gives me additional energy and pride to continue to fight another round, to not only pass this legislation, but to make sure that we ultimately win this victory,” he said.
In recent years, the CCP’s transnational repression of Falun Gong has increased. A June report documents hundreds of cases in which Americans experienced threats and intimidation relating to Falun Gong.
FoFG’s Executive Director, Alan Adler, noted in his speech that despite 27 years of persecution and increased transnational repression, the CCP has not been able to silence Falun Gong.
“What the CCP did not calculate was that people who have genuinely internalized truthfulness, compassion, and forbearance do not simply yield. They persist. They tell the truth. They endure … When most campaigns of repression fade through indifference or surrender … Falun Dafa practitioners are still here. Still practicing. Still speaking. The persistence itself is the message.”
Adler ended his speech with a call to action to raise awareness about the persecution of Falun Gong in China. He said, “In an age when information is both more available and more suppressed than at any prior moment, telling the truth is an act of consequence. We will keep telling it.”