1989 Tiananmen Square protests front of tanks." In February 2011, Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, in response to an uprising in Benghazi against his rule, held up China's 1989 military assault on Tiananmen Square as an example of how to deal with popular unrest. Chinese media censored Gaddafi's reference to Tiananmen Square. Since Tiananmen, the iconic "Tank Man" image has become a worldwide symbol for civil disobedience. What happened to the "Tank Man" following the demonstration is not known. Some say he was pulled away and went into hiding, others say he was executed by the authorities. "Time" dubbed him "The Unknown Rebel" and later
Tiananmen Square self-immolation incident on 17 March. Some Falun Gong sources argue that she may have been killed by the government as a way of guaranteeing her silence. The program suggests that the reaction time of state-run television crews and police on Tiananmen Square demonstrates they had advance knowledge of the event. They observed that officers arrived almost immediately on the scene equipped with numerous fire extinguishers. Fire extinguishers are not standard equipment for police on Tiananmen Square; the nearest building that would house them was several minutes away from the scene. The World Organization to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong further called