The U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) announced on Tuesday that a decisive military operation in the Eastern Pacific resulted in the elimination of three individuals suspected of being narco-terrorists. This strike highlights the ongoing efforts of U.S. forces to combat illicit trafficking in the region.

Under the leadership of Commander Gen. Francis L. Donovan, Joint Task Force Southern Spear executed the strike against a vessel identified as participating in drug trafficking activities along established smuggling routes. This action underscores the continued vigilance of U.S. military operations in areas known for such illegal activities.

Importantly, the operation was conducted without any harm to U.S. service members, as confirmed by SOUTHCOM. The command detailed the operation on X, previously known as Twitter, explaining that intelligence had verified the vessel’s involvement in trafficking operations along notorious narco-trafficking corridors in the Eastern Pacific.

“Three male narco-terrorists were killed during this action,” SOUTHCOM stated on X, affirming the successful outcome of the strike. The message also reassured that no U.S. military personnel were injured during the operation.

SOUTHCOM did not immediately release further information about those killed.

The U.S. military has carried out numerous strikes in recent months on suspected drug-smuggling vessels as part of a broader campaign to dismantle cartel-linked trafficking operations.

The announcement comes a day after SOUTHCOM said it conducted a similar strike in the Caribbean on Monday, killing two suspected drug traffickers.

Earlier, on April 24, SOUTHCOM carried out a lethal strike on a suspected drug-trafficking vessel in the Eastern Pacific, killing two suspected narco-terrorists.

That strike followed less than a week after SOUTHCOM said it conducted an operation in the Caribbean, killing three suspected narco-terrorists.

No U.S. service members were injured in the operation, according to SOUTHCOM. (@Southcom via X)

SOUTHCOM is responsible for military operations in Central and South America and the Caribbean, including counter-narcotics missions aimed at disrupting drug trafficking networks that threaten U.S. interests.

The Eastern Pacific remains a key corridor for narcotics trafficking, with cartels often using small, fast-moving vessels to transport drugs toward the U.S. and Central America.

Caitlin Clark’s Saturday was packed with excitement beyond just the Fever’s season opener.

Following her first WNBA game since July 15, where she briefly left the court due to a back issue, Clark accompanied country music sensation Morgan Wallen to his concert at Lucas Oil Stadium that evening.

During the Fever’s narrow 107-104 defeat to the Wings, Clark contributed 20 points, seven assists, and five rebounds, though she also had five turnovers. Her shooting was 7-for-18, with a 2-for-9 record from beyond the arc. In a tense moment, she missed a three-pointer that could have tied the game with about seven seconds remaining.

Despite two trips to the locker room for back adjustments, she clocked a team-leading 31 minutes on the floor.

“My back tends to get out of alignment pretty fast,” Clark remarked after the game. “So, I just needed to have it realigned a bit, but overall, I’m feeling great.”

The 24-year-old clearly felt well enough to watch Wallen, who has a celebrity walk him out before each of his shows.

The two shared a hug before he ran out to perform.

Clark’s outing to see Wallen, who was recorded on camera uttering a racial slur in 2021, ignited some controversy online.

“She walks out with a racist? Not a good look,” one X user wrote in response to Barstool’s tweet featuring a video of the walkout.

“Im sorry.. you didn’t get back on defense and Paige [Bueckers] drops 20 on you. Plus you miss a 3 at the end and take an L. Do better,” another user wrote.

Others were more supportive.

“Two GOATS,” one user wrote.

Fever teammate Sophie Cunningham was also in attendance and wrote, “you badass bitch,” while posting video of the walkout to her Instagram story.

The Fever’s next game is Wednesday against the Sparks in Los Angeles.

The tragic shooting that claimed the life of Chicago Police Officer John Bartholomew and left his partner injured has sparked renewed debate over potential amendments to the Illinois Safe-T Act.

Alphanso Talley, the suspect in the shooting, has a criminal history as a seven-time felon. At the time of the incident, he was under electronic monitoring and had previously failed to appear in court in March for charges related to carjacking and armed robbery.

The Safe-T Act, which significantly reformed the pretrial detention system in Illinois, includes the controversial elimination of cash bail. This legislation has been under scrutiny following recent events.

Among those advocating for changes to the Safe-T Act is Illinois Senate Republican Leader John Curran from Downers Grove.

“The Safe-T Act was intended to ensure that individuals facing non-violent charges are not held in jail solely due to financial inability to post bail amounts as low as $100 or $200. That aspect of the Act is effective. However, we are failing in how the Act handles repeat violent offenders who show a consistent pattern of violence,” Curran stated.

Curran says there is a way to make the existing law better. He says the trouble is with suspects who are on pretrial release and ankle monitoring, who are then arrested for other crimes.

“So, you’re talking a small subset of those in the criminal justice system. But these are the most dangerous individuals in the criminal justice system and pose the greatest risk to public safety,” he said.

Curran says right now, it’s the end of the legislative session, but there are discussions about his proposal.

Illinois House Republican Leader Tony McCombie of Savanna has filed identical legislation.

Curran hopes by the end of May, the legislature will pass their proposed change.

Speaking about the Safe-T Act and the shooting of Officer Bartholomew, Governor JB Pritzker said, “Well, what played a role here was that the judge who had the ability to keep the person in jail, didn’t.”

Sharone R. Mitchell Junior is the Cook County Public Defender. He says the Safe-T Act has impacted the people his office represents.

“I think what it’s done is create a better hearing process for when this important decision needs to be made,” Mitchell said. “Before you had these hearings that would last a minute. And the final determination would be how much money a person had. The changes to the Safe-T Act have made these hearings far longer. Far more expansive. Far more informative. And it’s given judges more information to make this really important decision.”

He says the Safe-T Act is “far better than the status quo.”

Mitchell says the decisions that judges make won’t always be perfect.

As for the proposal by State Senator Curran he said: “The problem with that proposal is that it’s completely unconstitutional. There has to be a hearing to determine whether a person is going to get their rights taken away. What we’re talking about is a person accused of an offense. And accountability happens when there’s a trial. When there’s evidence presented. And a judge or jury makes a decision or a person pleads guilty.”

In celebration of its 40th anniversary, the iconic film “Top Gun” is soaring back into cinemas.

The classic 1986 movie will be showcased at AMC Theatres across the nation for a limited engagement starting on May 13.

Adding to the excitement, audiences will also have the chance to enjoy a special double feature that includes the 2022 blockbuster sequel, “Top Gun: Maverick.”

This re-release offers a golden opportunity for fans who missed seeing “Top Gun” on the big screen to now enjoy both films in their full cinematic glory.

When “Top Gun: Maverick” hit theaters, fans were thrilled to see Tom Cruise and Val Kilmer reprising their legendary roles as Capt. Pete ‘Maverick’ Mitchell and Tom ‘Iceman’ Kazansky.

However, many fans of the original were disappointed to learn that most of the stars from the first installment would not be making it for the second film.

Top Gun is returning to movie theaters in celebration of its 40th anniversary

It is set for a limited one-week return to AMC Theatres locations nationwide beginning May 13 as the original was released in 1986 (Val Kilmer and Tom Cruise seen in the original film)

For some characters, it makes sense for them not to return. Anthony Edwards played Maverick’s notorious alley Goose who died during the film. 

Audiences first met Maverick and the rest of this cast of characters in the original 1986 version of Top Gun in which he is recruited to train in the prestigious Top Gun Naval Fights Weapon School. The reckless rebel struggles to fit in and ruffles some feathers, especially those of Iceman. 

Now Daily Mail looks at the cast of the original Top Gun film and reveals where they are now…

Tom Cruise

Tom Cruise was already a fast rising star by the time he was cast as protagonist  Pete ‘Maverick’ Mitchell in the 1986 blockbuster.

The now 63-year-old actor had since cemented himself as one of the most bankable stars in Hollywood and has consistently become one of the highest-paid actors in the world for decades.

His breakthrough leading role came three years before Top Gun as he starred in 1983’s Risky Business.

Cruise did not stop his rapid rise to the top as he went on to close out the 1980s starring in  The Color of Money (1986), Rain Man (1988), and Born on the Fourth of July (1989).

Tom Cruise was already a fast rising star by the time he was cast as protagonist Pete ‘Maverick’ Mitchell in the 1986 blockbuster

Cruise did eventually return for his iconic role in 2022’s Top Gun: Maverick which was a critical and commercial success grossing $1.486billion worldwide

He cemented his legacy as a top leading man the next decade with a run including A Few Good Men (1992), the thriller The Firm (1993), the horror film Interview with the Vampire (1994), and the sports comedy-drama Jerry Maguire (1996). 

Cruise reached even higher levels in the 2000s with roles including: Vanilla Sky (2001), Minority Report (2002), The Last Samurai (2003), Collateral (2004), War of the Worlds (2005), Knight and Day (2010), Jack Reacher (2012), Oblivion (2013), Edge of Tomorrow (2014).

However, arguably his biggest role came as Ethan Hunt in the Mission: Impossible film series which began in 1996.

However, arguably his biggest role came as Ethan Hunt in the Mission: Impossible film series which began in 1996

He has starred in a total of eight films from the franchise over three decades including Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation (2015; pictured)

The actor himself is a blockbuster machine as he holds the Guinness World Record for the most consecutive $100million-grossing movies with 11 films from 2012 to 2025 (Cruise is pictured in Las Vegas last month)

He has starred in a total of eight films from the franchise over three decades including: Mission: Impossible (1996), Mission: Impossible 2 (2000), Mission: Impossible III (2006),  Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (2011), Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation (2015), Mission: Impossible – Fallout (2018), Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One (2023), and Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning (2025).

Cruise did eventually return for his iconic role in 2022’s Top Gun: Maverick which was a critical and commercial success grossing $1.486billion worldwide.

The actor himself is a blockbuster machine as he holds the Guinness World Record for the most consecutive $100million-grossing movies with 11 films from 2012 to 2025. 

Val Kilmer

Val Kilmer sadly died at the age of 65 on April 1, 2025 after a battle with throat cancer.

Kilmer was known for his role as Iceman in Top Gun and as Batman/Bruce Wayne in the 1995 Batman Forever. 

Despite his permanently damaged voice, he made a brief return to the screen in 2022’s Top Gun: Maverick, reprising his role as Iceman opposite Cruise. It was his final big screen appearance.

Viewers were reduced to tears at the emotional scenes at the time and fans have been re-watching the poignant moment after the news of Kilmer’s death. 

In his 2020 memoir, I’m Your Huckleberry, he wrote that he thought he was going to die and even confessed that he ‘begged’ to be in the Top Gun sequel.

‘Tom was Maverick, but Maverick’s nemesis was Iceman. The two went together like salt and pepper,’ he wrote.

Val Kilmer sadly died at the age of 65 on April 1, 2025 after a battle with throat cancer (Val seen in 2019) 

Kilmer was known for his role as Iceman in Top Gun (seen in 1986)

‘It didn’t matter that the producers didn’t contact me. As The Temptations sang in the heyday of Motown soul, “Ain’t too proud to beg,”‘ he added.

The Los Angeles native also famously played musician Jim Morrison in the 1991 film The Doors. 

Kilmer underwent both radiotherapy and chemotherapy for his cancer as well as a tracheostomy a procedure to create an artificial hole in this neck to help him breathe.

The latter permanently damaged his vocal cords and consequentially forever altered his speaking voice.

Kilmer reported in 2020 that he had been cancer-free for four years.

He also played Batman/Bruce Wayne in the 1995 Batman Forever (pictured in a still)

Surprisingly Kilmer will be returning to the big screen in a posthumous role thanks to AI as he had already signed on to star in As Deep As The Grave prior tohis death 

Surprisingly Kilmer will be returning to the big screen in a posthumous role thanks to AI as he had already signed on to star in As Deep As The Grave prior tohis death. 

Kilmer was unable to film because of his health, so filmmakers decided to use AI to see Kilmer portray Catholic priest and Native American spiritualist Father Fintan. 

While many stars have rallied against the use of AI actors in movie roles, the decision was made with the blessing of Kilmer’s estate and his two children Mercedes and Jack, who provided younger images and footage of his final years to help with the AI rendering. 

Meg Ryan

Meg Ryan played Goose’s wife, Carole, in Top Gun at 25 years old, as pictured left, but wasn’t asked to return for the 2022 sequel Top Gun: Maverick

Ryan went on to become one of the most successful rom com stars of the 90s, appearing in leading roles in a slew of major movies, including When Harry Met Sally (left, 1989), Sleepless in Seattle (center, 1993), and You’ve Got Mail (right, 1998)

Meg Ryan was just 25 years old when she played Carole Bradshaw, one of Maverick’s co-pilot Nick ‘Goose’ Bradshaw’s wife. 

After Top Gun, the now-64-year-old went on to become the queen of rom coms during the 90s, starring in When Harry Met Sally, You’ve Got Mail and Sleepless in Seattle.

She became one of the biggest names in Hollywood, but her career took a nose dive after receiving harsh criticism for her 2003 erotic thriller In the Cut. 

However, the backlash didn’t get her down too much. ‘I think the feeling with Hollywood was mutual, she told The NY Times in 2019. ‘I felt done when they felt done, probably.’ 

The former actress felt ‘burnt out’ and admitted that becoming an actress was never a lifelong dream of hers.

‘I felt in a crazy way that, as an actor, I was burning through life experiences,’ she told the outlet. ‘I was burned out. I didn’t feel like I knew enough anymore about myself or the world to reflect it as an actor. I felt isolated.’

Even though she felt burnt out by the time In The Cut hit the big screen, she continued to take on small roles in TV shows and movies including Serious Moonlight, Fan Girl and Ithaca. Her most recent credit is from the sereis Picture Paris in 2018.

Ryan decided to leave Hollywood after her 2003 film In the Cut flopped

The 64-year-old, pictured above in March 2026, felt ‘burnt out’ by acting and felt she was done with Hollywood after criticism of her films and plastic surgeries

She also came under fire for the extensive plastic surgery she has gotten done. Fans first started to notice a drastic change in her face in 2016. 

Plastic surgeon Mark Youssef weighed in on the surgery at the time to with HollywoodLife, claiming, ‘She may have done too much’ and that she ‘doesn’t look like the Meg Ryan that we all love.’ 

‘The most obvious thing that she’s had done is some sort of filler or fat transfer to her cheek,’ he explained.

He added: ‘It’s definitely too much because the apple of her cheek is too full and too large. When she smiles, all of that filler moves up and makes her eyes look smaller.’ 

‘The reason she looks masculine is because of the placement of the volume in her cheeks. The volume of the filler should have been placed more laterally to give her a softer look.’

Since Ryan herself admitted her Hollywood career has been over for a while, it’s no surprise that she wasn’t asked back for Top Gun: Maverick. 

Kelly McGillis

Kelly McGillis, who starred in Top Gun when she was 29 years old, has claimed that she’s too ‘age-appropriate’ to be in the Top Gun sequel, pictured above in 2014 at 56 years old

Kelly McGillis, 68, who played Maverick’s love interest, Charlotte Blackwood, and Meg Ryan, 60, who played Goose’s wife, Carole Bradshaw, weren’t asked to return for the sequel, and it was due to a decision made by the creative team.

Not only are there new cast members this time around, but there’s a new director. 

Joseph Kosinski filled in place of the film’s original director, Tony Scott, who died from suicide in 2012. 

Kosinski was clear about his intentions for going in a new direction with Top Gun: Maverick and didn’t ask plenty of members of the new cast back for the sequel.

During an interview with Insider, he explained why McGillis and Ryan who played Anthony Edwards’ character Goose’s wife, weren’t asked back for Top Gun: Maverick.

‘Those weren’t stories that we were throwing around,’ Kosinski told the outlet of the actresses’ characters. ‘I didn’t want every storyline to always be looking backwards. It was important to introduce some new characters.’

Even though Kosinski just revealed the true reason they weren’t included, McGillis had admitted that she hadn’t back in 2019. 

When asked if she had received a call about the sequel, she responded, ‘Oh my God no they did not, and nor do I think they would ever.’

‘I’m old and I’m fat, and I look age-appropriate for what my age is. And that is not what the whole scene is about.’ 

‘To me, I’d much rather feel absolutely secure in my skin and who and what I am at my age as opposed to placing a value on all that other stuff,’ she concluded.

Top Gun: Maverick’s director, Joseph Kosinski, explained that he didn’t recast McGillis, as pictured in Top Gun with Tom Cruise, and Ryan because he ‘didn’t want every storyline looking backwards’ 

‘I’m old and I’m fat, and I look age-appropriate for what my age is,’ McGillis, pictured in 2010, said of why she feels she wasn’t asked to appear in Top Gun: Maverick

Even though McGillis took a step away from Hollywood after Top Gun, she continued to act in smaller roles and projects like in the 2015 film Blue, seen above 

She may not have been too heartbroken about not receiving the offer since she had made the decision to step back from Hollywood anyway after Top Gun came out in 1986.

 ‘I think just my priorities in life changed,’ she told ET. ‘It wasn’t like a major decision that I made to leave, it was just that other things became more important.’

 ‘It was very challenging for me to have any kind of sense of self or self-identity or real self-worth other than what I did for a living.’

 ‘And it just — it didn’t become a priority; what became the priority initially was raising my girls and being the best sober parent I could be,’ she explained.

Even though she stepped back from Hollywood, she didn’t step away from it entirely. Over the past four decades, she has starred in TV movies like Blue and played guest roles on TV shows like The L Word.

Most recently, she appeared in the 2020 limited series Dirty John. 

Anthony Edwards

Anthony Edwards, 63, famously portrayed LTJG Nick ‘Goose’ Bradshaw in the 1986 flick.

He portrayed the best friend and intercept officer of Tom Cruise’s character Maverick and famously perished in the film.

For obvious reasons he did not return for 2022’s Top Gun: Maverick but was featured in flashback scenes.

His character’s spirit was a major part of the film as his son Bradley ‘Rooster’ Bradshaw was played by Miles Teller.

Anthony Edwards, 63, famously portrayed LTJG Nick ‘Goose’ Bradshaw in the 1986 flick

Edwards best known role was not actually Top Gun, however, as he played Dr. Mark Greene on the first eight seasons of iconic medical drama ER from 1994 to 2002

His latest role was starring as Dr. Chauncy Everett in one episode of Tales of the Walking Dead in 2022

Edwards best known role was not actually Top Gun, however, as he played Dr. Mark Greene on the first eight seasons of iconic medical drama ER from 1994 to 2002.

The role earned him a golden Globe Award and six Screen Actors Guild Awards, and was even nominated for four consecutive Primetime Emmy Awards.

He has enjoyed a long-running career including roles in Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Top Gun, Zodiac, Gotcha!, Miracle Mile, Revenge of the Nerds, Thunderbirds, Planes, Northern Exposure, and Designated Survivor.

His latest role was starring as Dr. Chauncy Everett in one episode of Tales of the Walking Dead in 2022. 

Michael Ironside

Michael Ironside played Jester in Top Gun, pictured left, and knew when talks for Top Gun: Maverick started he wouldn’t be getting a call

Michael Ironside, 76, didn’t return because of his contentious relationship Jerry Bruckheimer, who served as a producer for Top Gun and returned for Top Gun: Maverick. 

In Top gun, Ironside played Rick ‘Jester’ Heatherly, a naval aviator and one of the instructors who taught Maverick and the other trainees. However, he won’t be back for round two.

‘I’m not going to be in this film,’ he told THR of the sequel back in 2018 when it was first announced. ‘The one person still in charge is Jerry Bruckheimer and Mr. Bruckheimer and I don’t really get along, or didn’t get along.’ 

‘He offered me a project 10 or 12 years ago and … I said no to it,’ he said of the origin of their beef. 

Ironside, pictured in 2015, suspected he wouldn’t be cast in Top Gun: Maverick because he had beef with the one of the producers

Ironside starred in Desperate Housewives in 2005 and has gone on to have a successful career despite his tense relationship with Top Gun producers Jerry Bruckheimer

He added: ‘The next time I saw him at a hockey game… I went up and said, “Hey Jerry,” and he just turned around and I figured, “Well that relationship is over with.”‘

Even though he may have burned his bridges with Bruckheimer, Ironside still went on to have a successful career. 

He starred in some of his biggest gigs in the 90s including  Starship Troopers and Total Recall. 

He’s still active in the industry and has appeared in movies and well-known shows like Desperate Housewives. He also has many projects in the works and his most recent film role was starring as Dr. Jonathan Myers in the film Marrow released earlier this year.

Tom Skerritt

Tom Skerritt, who is now 92 years old as pictured right, played Viper, pictured left, and filmed for Top Gun: Maverick but ‘doesn’t think he’ll be in the film at all’

Tom Skerritt, 92, played Mike ‘Viper’ Metcalf, who is not only one of Maverick’s instructor but a good friend of his father.

Admittedly, Skerritt had a feeling he wouldn’t be asked to return for the sequel before casting even went under way.

During an interview with Deluxe Edition: A Classic Pop Culture Podcast, he admitted that he thought ‘the only way I’d be in the film I’m sure would be just simply 30 years later, that they would be coming to my character’s funeral.’

Ironically, he was asked to film for a funeral but it wasn’t his character’s. 

‘So as it happens, they asked me down to be at the funeral of Iceman,’ he continued.

Skerritt went on to have a career after Top Gun and one his biggest projects was the 1997 film Contact, pictured right, and 2006’s Brothers & sisters, pictured left

Skerritt (pictured January 2019) isn’t acting as much these days he did have a small role in 2025 western film Broke alongside Dennis Quaid and Wyatt Russell

However, just because he filmed for Top Gun: Maverick, it doesn’t mean he made it into the film. 

‘So I went down there for a day and I was in that scene [but] I don’t think that I’ll be in the film at all. It’s just me in the crowd of people,’ he explained.

Even though fans may not be able to see him in Top Gun: Maverick, they can re-watch his 1997 film Contact and his role on MASH which he filmed before his Top Gun days.

His acting career has slowed down a bit but he did have a small role in 2025 western film Broke alongside Dennis Quaid and Wyatt Russell.

EXCLUSIVE: With a photo clutched tightly in her hands, Wang Chunyan revealed each of the 21 faces captured in the image to the camera. Her hands trembled as she recounted the stories behind the smiles: a married couple, a university lecturer, a young engineer, and friends she made during her time in prison.

According to Chunyan, some of these individuals met their end while in detention, others succumbed after enduring years of mistreatment, and some simply vanished within China’s extensive security apparatus, never to return unchanged. “Over 25 of my friends have perished due to this persecution,” she shared, her voice quivering. “I only have pictures of 21 of them.”

For more than twenty years, the 70-year-old practitioner of Falun Gong explained, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) systematically dismantled her existence. They took away the business she had nurtured, the home she had shared with her loved ones, and ultimately, claimed seven years of her life through imprisonment.

Yet, the greatest loss she feels is of her husband, whom she believes was also taken by this relentless persecution. “My beloved husband died because of the persecution,” Chunyan stated during an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital.

In a poignant moment, Chunyan held up the photographs of those she says perished during the CCP’s crackdown on the Falun Gong movement, sharing her story with Fox News Digital. (Fox News)

Her account comes as President Donald Trump prepares to travel to China next week for meetings with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, with trade, security and regional tensions expected to dominate the agenda. Yet behind the geopolitical rivalry lies another conflict: Beijing’s decades-long campaign against religious and spiritual groups the Communist Party views as threats to its authority.

Former U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom Sam Brownback believes Wang’s story reflects a much broader struggle unfolding inside China. “Either the world changes China or China will change the world,” Brownback told Fox News Digital.

Brownback recently chronicled Chunyan’s story and the experiences of other survivors in his book China’s War on Faith, arguing that personal testimony can often reveal the reality of persecution more powerfully than statistics alone. “Stories are more powerful than data,” he said.

Photograph shown by Falun Gong practitioner Wang Chunyan during a Zoom interview with Fox News Digital depict friends and fellow practitioners she says were persecuted during the Chinese Communist Party’s crackdown on the spiritual movement. (Fox News Digital)

The book examines what Brownback describes as an increasingly sophisticated system of surveillance and repression targeting Christians, Uyghur Muslims, Tibetan Buddhists and Falun Gong practitioners. He argues the Chinese Communist Party views independent faith communities as a direct threat to its authority.

“They fear religious freedom more than anything else. More than our aircraft carriers, more than our nuclear weapons, more than anything else because they think it is the biggest threat to the regime.”

Protesters chant slogans and hold posters of victims during a demonstration against China’s crackdown on Uyghurs in front of the Chinese consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, on Nov. 30, 2022. (Khalil Hamra/AP)

Chunyan story started in the late 1990s, when she suffered from severe insomnia, sometimes sleeping only two or three hours a night. Then her older sister introduced her to Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, a spiritual practice ,she says, is centered on meditation exercises and teachings rooted in “truthfulness, compassion and tolerance.”

The movement spread rapidly across China during the 1990s, attracting tens of millions of followers before Beijing banned it in 1999, portraying it as a threat to Communist Party control.

Chunyan says Falun Gong helped improve her “physical condition.” She said, “My business was booming. My family was happy. My life was perfect.”

Chunyan became convinced the practice had saved her life. She owned a successful company selling chemical production equipment and had become wealthy by Chinese standards, but after the crackdown began she felt compelled to publicly defend Falun Gong against what she believed were government lies.

She bought a printing press and began distributing leaflets. Soon afterward, she said, surveillance followed everywhere.

“The buildings where I worked were under constant surveillance,” Chunyan recalled. “I left to escape and was afraid to come home.”

A pro-democracy activist holds placards with a picture of Chinese citizen journalist Zhang Zhan outside the Chinese central government’s liaison office in Hong Kong on Dec. 28, 2020. Zhang was released from prison after serving four years for charges related to reporting on the COVID-19 outbreak in Wuhan, according to a video statement she released Tuesday, May 21, 2024. (Kin Cheung/AP)

For years, she lived in hiding, using prepaid calling cards and public telephones to secretly arrange meetings with her husband, Yu Yefu, in restaurants, coffee shops and hotels across the city. The two tried, briefly, to maintain some sense of normalcy.

Yu himself never practiced Falun Gong, but police repeatedly pressured him to reveal where his wife was hiding. He never did. Then, in 2002, Wang stopped hearing from him.

When she finally returned home, she found him unconscious. Doctors could not save him. “He protected me,” she said in tears.

He was 49 years old when he died. Their daughter was still in college.

The devastation spread through the family afterward, Chunyan said. Her mother-in-law stopped eating and later became paralyzed. Her father-in-law died from grief. Her sisters were also imprisoned and tortured.

Then came Chunyan’s own imprisonment.

The flag of China is flown behind a pair of surveillance cameras outside the Central Government Offices in Hong Kong, China, on Tuesday, July 7, 2020. Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam defended national security legislation imposed on the city by China last week, hours after her government asserted broad new police powers, including warrant-less searches, online surveillance and property seizures.  (Roy Liu/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

She described years of forced labor, sleep deprivation and physical abuse. At one point, she said, the torture became so severe that she fainted three times in a single day.

One memory still haunts her most. Shortly before her release from prison, Wang said authorities conducted unexplained blood tests and medical examinations. At the time, fellow inmates told her the government was simply checking on Falun Gong prisoners before release. Only later, after learning about allegations of forced organ harvesting involving detained Falun Gong practitioners, did she begin to fear why the testing may have happened. “I was horrified,” Chunyan said.

Falun Gong practitioner Wang Chunyan recounting the death of her husband, whom she says was persecuted by Chinese authorities for refusing to reveal her whereabouts. (Fox News)

Today, Chunyan lives in the United States, having left China in 2013 and eventually making her way through Thailand before arriving in America in 2015.

Yet decades later, the losses remain immediate to her.

“There are millions of families in China like ours,” Chunyan wants the world to know, “Persecuted by the CCP.”

In a statement to Fox News Digital, Chinese Embassy spokesperson Liu Pengyu rejected the allegations and defended Beijing’s actions against Falun Gong. “The aforementioned remarks are nothing but malicious fabrications and sensational lies,” Liu said. “Falun Gong is a cult organization that is anti-humanity, anti-science and anti-society. It is hostile toward religion, endangers the public, and serves as a malignant tumor within society.” Liu argued that “the Chinese government outlawed the Falun Gong cult in accordance with the law, thereby safeguarding the fundamental human rights and freedoms of the vast majority of the Chinese people.” 

In the early hours of Sunday morning, downtown Los Angeles was lit up by a massive blaze that called over 100 firefighters into action. The dramatic scene unfolded as first responders, including the Los Angeles Police Department, rushed to tackle the emergency.

The alarm was raised at 4:20 a.m., with reports of a fire on the 1200 block of South Hope Street, as relayed to the California Post by local authorities. The affected structure was identified as a two-story commercial building, complete with a mezzanine, which quickly became engulfed in flames.

With safety as a top priority, all personnel were ordered to evacuate the building, as heavy smoke and flames began to pour from the roof and roll-up doors. The situation escalated, prompting the firefighting team to shift their strategy from offensive to defensive, aiming to contain the blaze and prevent it from spreading further.

On the ground, approximately 124 officers were stationed, with the LAPD playing a crucial role in managing traffic and ensuring the safety of the surrounding area. The collaboration between the fire and police departments was pivotal in controlling the chaotic scene.

“Heavy fire showing from the roof and heavy pressurized smoke from roll-up doors,” firefighters said in an update, noting the fire had transitioned from offensive to defensive mode.

The flames and smoke caused at least two nearby high-rise apartment buildings to be evacuated, preliminary information indicates.

By 6 a.m., crews had contained the blaze. No injuries were immediately reported.

What started the fire was not known.

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