Falun Gong's expansion plans in bucolic area stoke tensions

Banned from China as a cult, practitioners of the group known as Falun Gong found a peaceful refuge in the forested hills of upstate New York. Over the years, they built up a compound with a traditional Chinese temple, schools, and rehearsal space for their high-flying, globe-trotting dance troupe, Shen Yun.

But the steady growth of Falun Gong's Dragon Springs complex has caused a growing rift with their neighbors, who worry about the effect it is having on the area's environment and rural character. Now a new proposal that could add more people, more buildings and more visitors has only added to the tension.

"We enjoy peace and quiet — until Dragon Springs moved in," neighbor Dusanka Marusic said at a packed public hearing on the proposal this month. "We are either unwilling or unable to control what goes on there, and it jeopardizes everyone."

A security guard walks along the drive of the main gate entry to the Falun Gong Dragon Springs compound, Friday, March 8, 2019, in Otisville, N.Y. Expansion plans for the compound in the hills of upstate New York have heightened tensions with neighbors who worry that the religious group could harm the area's environment and rural character by bringing in more buildings, more residents and more visitors. (AP PhotoJulie Jacobson)

Practitioners of Falun Gong, also called Falun Dafa, say they just want to coexist peacefully. But members in the past have said they were discriminated against by town officials based on their race and beliefs, which include traditional Chinese calisthenics and philosophy drawn from Buddhism, Taoism and the often-unorthodox teachings of founder Li Hongzhi.

Dragon Springs sits on 400 acres about an hour's drive northwest of New York City. The tax-exempt religious site was acquired in 2000, just a year after the Chinese government officially banned Falun Gong as an "evil cult."

After years of additions, the lakeside site features Tang Dynasty-style buildings along with modern, boxy buildings that would fit into a contemporary office park. Dragon Springs said 100 people, mostly students, live there. Few others get to set foot on a property sitting deep in the woods behind guarded gates.

This Friday, March 8, 2019, photo shows the Falun Gong Dragon Springs compound in Otisville, N.Y. Expansion plans for the compound in the hills of upstate New York have heightened tensions with neighbors who worry that the religious group could harm the area's environment and rural character by bringing in more buildings, more residents and more visitors. (AP PhotoJulie Jacobson)

Now they're asking for an expansion that would include a 920-seat music hall that, along with other public areas on the site, could generate up to 2,000 visitors a day, according to environmental impact filings. They're also seeking a new parking garage, a wastewater treatment plant, and conversion of a meditation hall to a residence hall. Under the proposal, the entire site would be able to accommodate 500 residents.

But critics say the problem is that Dragon Springs has flouted environmental and land-use regulations for years, sometimes building first and asking permission later. And they say it has grown far beyond what was initially described as a modest refuge.

"It's like a small city — little by little, through segmentation with one plan and then another plan," said Grace Woodard, a Dragon Springs neighbor.

This Friday, March 8, 2019, photo shows the Falun Gong Dragon Springs compound in Otisville, N.Y. After years of additions, the lakeside site features Tang Dynasty-style buildings close by modern, boxy buildings that would fit into a contemporary office park. Dragon Springs said 100 people, mostly students, live there. (AP PhotoJulie Jacobson)

Dragon Springs president Jonathon Lee emphasized his group is considerate to its neighbors, noting that the setting for the group's compound, nestled amid mountains and lakes, holds great cultural significance, especially for Buddhist reflection.

"It is good feng shui," he said.

Lee answered questions emailed to his lawyer by The Associated Press. Lawyers did not answer a question about Dragon Springs' revenues.

This Friday, March 8, 2019, photo shows the Falun Gong Dragon Springs compound, right, in Otisville, N.Y. Dragon Springs is asking for an expansion that would include a 920-seat music hall, a new parking garage, a wastewater treatment plant and modification of a meditation hall to a residence hall. The Delaware Riverkeeper Network wrote that the proposed development could be "devastating" to the local stream, the Basher Kill and the trout-rich Neversink River, pictured at the center of the photo. (AP PhotoJulie Jacobson)

Shen Yun, which has five troupes of dancers, rehearses at Dragon Springs when it isn't playing heavily promoted performances in some of the top venues in London, New York, Los Angeles, Washington and San Francisco, to name a few.

Their shows feature elaborate dance numbers against colorful backdrops of traditional China, with dozens of performers doing acrobatic leaps in flowing traditional garb. Some attendees have reported the shows include pro-Falun Gong and anti-communist messages. The Chinese embassy's website calls the performances "a tool of the cult and anti-China propaganda."

The compound site hosts an arts college that acts as a feeder for Shen Yun and a secondary school. Beyond Dragon Springs, more Falun Gong practitioners live in homes in Deerpark and surrounding towns. On warm days, practitioners can occasionally be seen doing their slow, fluid exercises together outdoors.

Practitioners of Falun Dafa, also called Falun Gong, meditate and exercise outside of the Chinese consulate, Thursday, April 25, 2019, in New York. Banned from China as a cult, practitioners of the group known as Falun Gong found a peaceful refuge in the forested hills of upstate New York. But the steady growth of Falun Gong’s Dragon Springs complex, an hour's drive north of New York City, has caused a growing rift with their neighbors who worry about the effect it is having on the area’s environment and rural character. (AP PhotoSeth Wenig)

"Individually they are very nice, always been friendly," said neighbor Bob Majcher. "What they do behind their walls is another story."

The Delaware Riverkeeper Network wrote that the proposed development, including the wastewater plant and elimination of wetlands, could be "devastating" to the local stream, the Basher Kill and the trout-rich Neversink River.

The town's planning board will accept written comments from the public on the expansion plans until May 8. Town officials could reach a decision in the coming months.

Grace Woodard and Frank Ketcham hand out literature and paraphernalia as people arrive for a planning board meeting regarding Dragon Springs' planned expansion, Wednesday, April 10, 2019, in Port Jervis, N.Y. Expansion plans for the compound in the hills of upstate New York have heightened tensions with neighbors who worry that the religious group could harm the area’s environment and rural character by bringing in more buildings, more residents and more visitors. (AP PhotoSeth Wenig)

Dragon Springs has had its own complaints over the years.

The group claimed in a 2013 federal lawsuit that town officials were handling their planning approvals in a way that violated their religious rights. Members of the group claimed they were patronized by officials as "these people" and "Moonies," according to court filings. The lawsuit was settled. A separate suit filed in 2015 by 10 Chinese-American Dragon Springs residents who claimed the town supervisor was improperly challenging their right to vote was later withdrawn.

"People just don't truly understand Falun Dafa, Dragon Springs," said Gail Rachlin, an area resident and spokeswoman for Falun Gong. "And if they did, if they had a better awareness, I think they would welcome and embrace us."

People listen to speakers during a planning board meeting regarding Dragon Springs' planned expansion, Wednesday, April 10, 2019, in Port Jervis, N.Y. Expansion plans for the Falun Gong compound in the hills of upstate New York have heightened tensions with neighbors who worry that the religious group could harm the area’s environment and rural character by bringing in more buildings, more residents and more visitors. (AP PhotoSeth Wenig)

Practitioners of Falun Dafa, also called Falun Gong, meditate and exercise outside of the Chinese consulate, Thursday, April 25, 2019, in New York. Banned from China as a cult, practitioners of the group known as Falun Gong found a peaceful refuge in the forested hills of upstate New York. But the steady growth of Falun Gong’s Dragon Springs complex has caused a growing rift with their neighbors who worry about the effect it is having on the area’s environment and rural character. (AP PhotoSeth Wenig)

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Several days of investigations into the Brown University mass shooting and the slaying of a Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor ended when authorities discovered evidence they say indicates the killings were committed by the same man, who was then found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

The attacker at Brown killed two students and wounded nine others in an engineering building on Saturday. Some 50 miles (80 kilometers) away MIT professor Nuno F.G. Loureiro was killed Monday night in his home in the Boston suburb of Brookline. Police said the body of the shooter they believe is responsible for both crimes was found Thursday.

Here is what to know about the attacks and investigations:

Claudio Neves Valente, 48, a former Brown student and Portuguese national, was found dead in a New Hampshire storage facility after a six-day search that spanned several New England states.

Brown University President Christina Paxson said Neves Valente was enrolled at Brown from the fall of 2000 to the spring of 2001. He was admitted to the graduate school to study physics beginning in September 2000.

“He has no current affiliation with the university,” she said.

Neves Valente had studied at Brown on a student visa. He eventually obtained legal permanent residence status in September 2017. His last known residence was in Miami.

Loureiro, 47, who was married, joined MIT in 2016 and was named last year to lead the school’s Plasma Science and Fusion Center, where he worked to advance clean energy technology and other research. The center, one of MIT’s largest labs, had more than 250 people working across seven buildings when he took the helm. He was a professor of physics and nuclear science and engineering.

Valente and Loureiro attended the same academic program at a university in Portugal between 1995 and 2000, Foley said. Loureiro graduated from the physics program at Instituto Superior Técnico, Portugal’s premier engineering school, in 2000, according to his MIT faculty page.

The same year, Neves Valente was let go from a position at the Lisbon university, according to an archive of a termination notice from the school’s then-president in February 2000.

Investigators on Friday were trying to sort out why the former Brown student allegedly committed the shootings.

The discovery of the body came after authorities released several security videos of a suspect for the Brown attack in which their face was masked or turned away. Police say a witness then gave investigators a key tip: he saw someone who looked like the person of interest with a Nissan sedan displaying Florida plates.

That enabled Providence police officers to tap into a network of more than 70 street cameras operated around the city by surveillance company Flock Safety. Those cameras track license plates and other vehicle details.

After leaving Rhode Island for Massachusetts, Providence officials said the suspect stuck a Maine license plate over the rental car’s plate to help conceal his identity.

Video footage showed Neves Valente entering an apartment building near Loureiro’s. About an hour later, he was seen entering the New Hampshire storage facility where he was later found dead, Foley said.

New Hampshire’s attorney general announced Friday that Neves Valente died on Tuesday, the same day that Loureiro died at a hospital.

The two students who were killed and the nine others wounded were studying for a final in a first-floor classroom in an older section of the engineering building when the shooter walked in and opened fire.

Those killed were 19-year-old sophomore Ella Cook and 18-year-old freshman MukhammadAziz Umurzokov. Cook, whose funeral is Monday, was active in her Alabama church and served as vice president of the Brown College Republicans. Umurzokov’s family immigrated to the U.S. from Uzbekistan when he was a child, and he aspired to be a doctor.

As for the wounded, six were in stable condition Thursday, officials said. The other three were discharged.

Neves Valiente gained permanent residency status through a green card lottery program, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said in a post on X.

She said President Donald Trump ordered her to pause the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services program.

The diversity visa program makes up to 50,000 green cards available each year by lottery to people from countries that are little represented in the United States, many of them in Africa. The lottery was created by Congress, and the move is almost certain to invite legal challenges.

This combo image made with photos provided by the FBI and the Providence, Rhode Island, Police Department shows a person of interest in the shooting that occurred at Brown University in Providence, R.I., Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025. (FBI/Providence Police Department via AP)

A memorial of flowers and signs lay outside the Barus and Holley engineering building at Brown University, on Hope Street in Providence, R.I., on Tuesday, Dec 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Matt OBrien)

A Brown University student leaves campus, Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025, after all classes, exams and papers were canceled for the rest of the Fall 2025 semester following the school shooting, in Providence, R.I. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)