NEW YORK—Judy Chen's two oldest sons have been at the frontline of the Iraq war for several years. But while her sons are in battle in Iraq, Ms. Chen has been at the frontlines of different kind of battle in Flushing, Queens.

Judy volunteers her time at a booth that serves as the Service Center for Quitting the CCP. She lets people in her community know about the human rights abuses perpetrated by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and gives them the unique opportunity to voice their dissatisfaction with the regime by quitting the party.

Since May 17, what has been up to now a peaceful community activity, has become very dangerous for Ms. Chen and other volunteers.

"We have been here for four years, volunteering to help people to quit the CCP. We have come here almost every day," Ms. Chen said of her efforts at the Flushing site.

But on Saturday, events unfolded quite dramatically. Starting at 10 AM, the volunteers set up their table with information about the 36 million people who have publicly quit the CCP. They also laid out the book the "Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party," a comprehensive account of the human rights abuses of the CCP.

Shortly afterwards, a group of Chinese people arrived with cameras and camcorders. Initially they came in small groups. By noon several hundred people had gathered.

Ms. Chen, like many of the volunteers at the Service Center, is a Falun Gong practitioner. A spiritual practice that is widespread in China, Falun Gong has been persecuted by the CCP since 1999.

"We have been coming here for more than four years, but we have never seen anything like this," said Ms. Chen. Ms. Chen said that CCP affiliated media outlets were interviewing people in the crowd. They then wrote articles claiming that by having the booth in Flushing, Falun Gong practitioners did not care about the earthquake tragedy.

"They cursed us, saying that we were traitors, that we are not Chinese, and they told us to die. They used very bad language. They also spat at us and threw stones. They held blood-red CCP flags in their arms and waved it—who today would walk down the street with that flag?" said Ms. Chen.

Ms. Chen was then physically assaulted. She recounted, "At around 11 AM, a middle aged woman started to curse us. I went to take a photo of her, but the woman tried to grab my camera. When I tried to protect the camera, the woman beat me.

"She hit my head, grabbed my neck, pulled my hands, and hit me with a fist; it was rude and quite atrocious. My hand was injured, and my mouth bleeding. In fact, it still hurts. There are fingernail scratches on my hand."

Ms. Chen went on to say, "She then walked away saying, 'You are American—If I kill you I am not afraid.' A man beside her added, 'You better be careful, I will kill you. I want to see your face clearly. I want to kill you,'" said Ms. Chen.