Hamartia Antidote
ELITE MEMBER
- Joined
- Nov 17, 2013
- Messages
- 35,188
- Reaction score
- 30
- Country
- Location
Chinese student, 25, accused of killing Tiananmen Square lawyer
Xiaoning Zhang, 25, is said to have stabbed Jinjin Li, 66, to death on Monday in New York City where he worked as an immigration lawyer.
- Xiaoning Zhang, 25, is said to have stabbed Jinjin Li, 66, to death on Monday in New York City where he worked as an immigration lawyer
- The murder took place on 39th Avenue near 138th St in Flushing, Queens, at about 11.40 am
- Xiaoning Zhang, 25, was taken into custody and faces a murder charge and weapon possession
- She is said to have attacked Li during a prior visit to his office last week, after the student was told by Li that he would not help her apply for asylum
Xiaoning Zhang, 25, is said to have stabbed Jinjin Li, 66, to death on Monday in New York City where he worked as an immigration lawyer.
Queens County Criminal Court heard that two knives were found at the scene and one was in Zhang's pocket. She told police that she carries a knife for protection.
The murder took place on 39th Avenue near 138th St in Flushing, Queens, at about 11.40 am, before Li was rushed to Elmhurst Hospital where he died from wounds to neck and chest later in the same day.
Xiaoning Zhang, 25, was taken into custody and faces a murder charge and weapon possession.
Xiaoning Zhang (pictured at Queens county court) , 25, is said to have stabbed Jinjin Li, 66, to death on Monday in New York City where he worked as an immigration lawyer
The murder took place on 39th Avenue near 138th St in Flushing, Queens, at about 11.40 am, before Li (pictured) was rushed to Elmhurst Hospital where he died from wounds to neck and chest later in the same day
She is said to have attacked Li during a prior visit to his office last week, after the student - who arrived in Los Angeles on an F1 visa last year - was told by Li that he would not help her apply for asylum.
Zhang is said to have claimed that she was raped by Beijing police, and that her life was in danger if she was forced to return home.
Chuang Chuang Chen, the CEO of the China Democracy Party, and lawyer Wei Zhu, a friend of Li's, both told The New York Daily News that the killing might have stemmed from Li's refusal to take Zhang on as a client due to her possibly having mental health issues.
'He even told the police not to arrest her. "She is young. Let her have a future." He was a great man,' Zhu said. 'He was a free union counsel at Tiananmen. He was arrested and detained for over a year and a half.'
Zhang came to the U.S. in August on an F-1 student visa to go to school in Los Angeles, Chen told the Daily News.
'But she didn't attend. She came straight here. She came directly and applied for asylum. She claimed she was raped by police in Beijing who sent her to a mental facility,' he added.
Li's friends said that the lawyer, who rarely refused a case, didn't want to help Zhang after she made a scene on Friday during a visit to his office. Police was even called to the scene before she ran away.
'That probably triggered her anger. Today she came with a knife, with the intent to kill him,' Zhu alleged.
NYPD officers were seen in front of Zhang's apartment building on Monday evening as they waited for a search warrant to enter, possibly leading to motives behind the murder.
'He was one of the best men I have ever known,' Zhu said of Li, who was studying to become a lawyer at Peking University during the Tiananmen protests. 'If he hadn't left China he could have been a famous lawyer, he could have been a judge.'
Li, who also went by the first name Jim, was often quoted in recent years by news organizations looking for insight or commentary on the Chinese dissident community or on relations between China and the West.
As an immigration lawyer, he also represented some Chinese expatriates living in the U.S. who were considered fugitives by that country.
Prior to his imprisonment for protesting, Li had been a legal adviser to an independent labor union that had challenged China's government on worker rights.
'I can't believe it. She not only destroyed his life, but the hope of our community,' Zhu told the newspaper. 'He wanted to realize democracy in China. He will never realize that dream.'
Li, whose last message on Instagram was one of support towards freeing Ukraine, took part in the six-week protest movements at Tiananmen Square and on the streets of Beijing in 1989.
Back then, he worked as a legal counsel for the Workers Autonomous Federation union.
He was arrested just days following the June 4 massacre, when hundreds, if not thousands of innocent protestors were killed in the square and in nearby areas by the Chinese army.
As of today, no precise figures have been confirmed by the Chinese Communist Party, and estimates vary from hundreds to several thousands, both military and civilians.
As a consequence of hid participation in these protests, Li was jailed for 22 months before moving to the U.S. as an asylum seeker in 1993.
Last edited:
