McDonald's sect murder in Zhaoyuan

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The McDonald's sect murder on May 28, 2014 was a murder case of a 37-year-old saleswoman in a McDonald’s restaurant in the city of Zhaoyuan in the Chinese province of Shandong by a criminal new religious movement or sect . Reports concur on the course of events and the names of the perpetrators, two of whom were sentenced to death. However, they differ in the question of which religious group the perpetrators belonged to. The crime aroused considerable emotion in China . Media discussed the evil of the "sects" and the Chinese social structure. A debate arose around the latter because other customers at the McDonald’s had failed to intervene to save the victim, even though they outnumbered the perpetrators.

The crime

On May 28, 2014, six people, including a youth, entered a McDonald's restaurant in Zhaoyuan, Shandong, claiming to be missionaries. After spreading their religious message, they asked the restaurant customers for their cell phone numbers in order to be able to contact them in the future. One of the customers, a saleswoman in the nearby clothing store, Wu Shuoyan (1977-2014), refused to give her cell phone number. Two of the missionaries beat her to death with the handle of a mop, while the other perpetrators warned the other customers not to intervene. Surveillance cameras recorded the entire horrific scene. The police arrived at the restaurant, overpowered the killers, and took them into custody. One of the perpetrators, the teenager Zhang Duo (born 2001), was not yet of criminal age. The other five perpetrators had to stand trial and appeared before the Yantai Intermediate People's Court in Shandong Province on August 21, 2014 . Two of them, Zhang Lidong (1959–2015) and his daughter Zhang Fan (1984–2015), were sentenced to death and executed on February 2, 2015. The court sentenced the other three defendants to imprisonment: Lü Yingchun (born 1975) received a life sentence, Zhang Hang (born 1996) received a prison sentence of ten years, and Zhang Qiaolian (born 1990) received seven years.

The offender

The group of perpetrators consisted of the extended Zhang family: former small textiles entrepreneur Zhang Lidong, who was unemployed at the time of the murder, his lover Zhang Qiaolian, his three children, Zhang Fan, Zhang Hang and Zhang Duo, who were married with a woman named Chen Xiujuan; and Lü Yingchun, a young woman who lived with the Zhang family. According to information obtained from the trial and interviews with Chinese media out of prison, the Zhang family were from Shijiazhuang, Hebei Province, China , but moved to Zhaoyuan in 2000 . Lü Yingchun started a religious ministry there that Zhang Fan heard about on the Internet. He wanted to take part in these evangelistic activities. In 2008, the group became familiar with the book "The Seven Thunders Sound" (七 雷 发声), which was written by Li Youwang and Fan Bin from Baotou , Inner Mongolia , who were then imprisoned . Zhang Fan borrowed RMB 50,000 from her mother and sent the money to Baotou so that the authors of the book could move to Zhaoyuan and live with the Zhang family after their release. The couple viewed the families as the "Two Witnesses" mentioned in the Revelation of John in the Bible . In 2010, Lü Yingchun and Zhang Fan moved in together. A year later, Zhang Fan claimed to have had a revelation that Li Youwang identified as an "evil spirit." Li and his wife left the group, and Zhang Fan and Lü Yingchun announced that they were the "Two Witnesses" themselves. They later proclaimed that they were much more: “God as being” and “two carnal bodies sharing the same soul”. To purge the group, which never had more than thirty members, of members who were considered "evil spirits" became increasingly important. One of these "evil spirits," according to Zhang Fan, was her own mother, Chen Xiujuan. On May 20, 2014, she was expelled from the family home. The two "gods" gave their husband, Zhang Lidong, permission to live with his lover, Zhang Qiaolian. Zhang Fan and Lü Yingchun also identified the family dog ​​Luyi as possessed by the "evil spirit" of Chen Xiujuan. The pet was then killed by Zhang Lidong on May 26, 2014, a fact that the group considered significant in the fight against "evil spirits".

The incident with the dog preceded the murder of Wu Shuoyan in the McDonald's restaurant on May 28, 2014. In court, Lü Yingchun stated that it was imperative to kill the saleswoman because she was a particularly “evil spirit”: “Zhang Hang asked the lady for her phone number, but she refused to give it up. When I became aware of this, I found that we were being attacked and drawn in by an 'evil spirit', which left us weak and helpless. Not only did she not listen, her attack intensified. [...] During the attack of the 'demon' on us, Zhang Fan and I gradually realized that the woman had to die, otherwise she would have devoured everyone. [...]. The clash between the woman and us was a battle between two ghosts. The others could neither see it nor understand it. The police couldn't understand either. "

Official Chinese design

What religious movement was responsible for the crime? Official Chinese sources claimed from the day of the murder that the act was committed by members of the Church of Almighty God . This is also known as Eastern Lightning, a new religious movement whose "priest" Zhao Weishan (born 1951) teaches that Christ returned to earth as Almighty God. Although the movement never mentioned a name and warned that all information from outside sources could be incorrect, most scholars identify a Chinese woman born in 1973 named Yang Xiangbin as the embodiment of Almighty God. The Church of Almighty God has been banned in China since shortly after its establishment in 1991.

As evidence that the perpetrators of the McDonald's murder were members of the Church of Almighty God, Chinese sources mention that police found church readings in Zhang Lidong's home. In addition, Zhang Fan is said to have quoted the book "God's Hidden Work" (神 隐秘 的 做功) in an interview, a title that is similar to "The hidden works done by God" (神 隐秘 的 作工). Again, this is a text published by the Church of Almighty God. In addition, in his first interview after the murder, Zhang Lidong is said to have answered “Almighty God” (全能 神) when asked what religion he belongs to.

Most of the international media took over the Chinese media's narrative and reiterated that the Church of Almighty God was responsible for the crime. The Chinese government used the McDonald's murder to justify tougher crackdown on the Church of Almighty God and thousands of arrests.

Position of the Church of Almighty God

The Church of Almighty God condemned the murder, claiming that there were "psychopaths" who claimed the Church for themselves but had nothing to do with it. She also suggested that it would not have been difficult for the Chinese Communist Party , which had persecuted the Church of Almighty God intensely long before the Zhaoyuan Fall, to manipulate a group of psychopaths to commit a crime and then use it to help discredit the church and justify its persecution.

Scientific presentation of the events

Emily Dunn

In 2015, Australian scholar Emily Dunn published the first book-length scholarly presentation on the Church of Almighty God. In her book, Dunn also discusses the McDonald's murder. Their conclusion is that: “International press outlets endorsed the Chinese assessment of the Church of Almighty God as bizarre and violent [and therefore responsible for the crime]. What they overlooked were Lü Yingchun and Zhang fan statements that although they started as members of Eastern Enlightenment (1998 and 2007, respectively), they grew beyond it. " In subsequent works, Dunn maintained that the group responsible for the murders was an "offshoot" or split from the Church of Almighty God. Although they were once members of the Church, they left it several years ago at the time of the murder and founded an independent movement.

David Bromley and Massimo Introvigne

American sociologist David G. Bromley and Italian sociologist Massimo Introvigne , both specialists in new religious movements, studied and discussed the McDonald's murder in an article published in 2017. Introvigne was invited to a seminar on dangerous sects and the Church of Almighty God in Henan in June 2017 by the official Chinese anti-cult association. Both sociologists cite the official Chinese "account" which attributes the McDonald's murder to the Church of Almighty God. They suggest, however, that a “reply”, which the group of murderers sees as an independent “micro-movement”, is more credible and also better supported by the official Chinese representation of the court process.

You agree with Dunn that the perpetrators were not members of the Church of Almighty God at the time of the murder. Unlike Dunn, however, they doubt the killers ever joined the Church, even though they may have read some of their books. Introvigne and Bromley's conclusion is based on four arguments. First, Zhang Fan said in an interview that at one point she was interested in contacting the Church of Almighty God, but in fact "never had contact with the Church of Almighty God because it is mysterious and I could not find it." Second, the defendants testified at the trial that while they used the name "Almighty God," their group and the Church of Almighty God, headed by Zhao Weishan, were two different organizations. Lü Yingchun stated, “The state labeled Zhao Weishan's counterfeit 'Church of Almighty God' as a xie jiao [evil sect] and we label them as 'evil spirits'. Only Zhang Fan and I [...] could represent the real 'Almighty God'. Zhang Fan and I are the true spokespersons for the true Almighty God. The government has persecuted the Almighty God that Zhao Weishan believes in, not the 'Almighty God' we are talking about. These are false 'Almighty Gods' while we are the real 'Almighty God'. ”Third, the conception of“ evil spirits ”(邪灵) that drove the group to the murders does not correspond to the theology of the Church of Almighty God. In the Church's view, lengthy tests are required to determine the presence of an "evil spirit". However, the murderers identified the victim Wu Shuoyan as an "evil spirit" within minutes because she refused to give her cell phone number. Fourth, both groups believed that "Almighty God" is embodied in our time and is on earth today. This assumption is central to the belief of both groups. However, the identification of Almighty God is different. For the Church of Almighty God there can be no “Almighty God” other than the person whom it identifies as such. For the McDonald's killers, Almighty God was a dual deity made up of Zhang Fan and Lü Yingchun, "two carnal bodies that share the same soul."

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Individual evidence

  1. ^ Introvigne and Bromley (2017).
  2. ↑ Dunn (2015a), 204th
  3. ^ The Beijing News (2014).
  4. ^ Introvigne and Bromley (2017).
  5. ^ Introvigne and Bromley (2017).
  6. ↑ Xiao and Zhang (2014).
  7. ↑ Xiao and Zhang (2014).
  8. ↑ Introvigne (2017), 64-65.
  9. ↑ Xiao and Zhang (2014).
  10. ^ Introvigne (2017), 65.
  11. ↑ Xiao and Zhang (2014).
  12. ^ The Beijing News (2014).
  13. ↑ Xiao and Zhang (2014).
  14. ^ Introvigne (2017), 65.
  15. ^ The Beijing News (2014).
  16. ↑ Xiao and Zhang (2014).
  17. ^ The Beijing News (2014).
  18. ↑ Dunn 2015 (b).
  19. ↑ Dunn (2015a), Dunn (2015b).
  20. ↑ Dunn (2015b).
  21. ↑ Chen (2014).
  22. ↑ Phoenix Satellite TV (2014).
  23. ^ CCTV (2014).
  24. ↑ See e.g. B. Gracie (2014).
  25. ↑ Xin (2014).
  26. ↑ Dunn (2015a).
  27. ↑ Dunn (2015a), 204th
  28. ↑ Dunn (2015b).
  29. ↑ KKNews (2017).
  30. ^ Introvigne and Bromley (2017).
  31. ↑ Introvigne (2017), 64, citing Phoenix Satellite TV (2014).
  32. ↑ Introvigne (2017), 66, citing The Beijing News (2014); Introvigne (2018).
  33. ^ Introvigne (2017), 63.
  34. ^ Introvigne and Bromley (2017), quoting The Beijing News (2014).