LEADING members of a branch of the “Almighty God” cult in Northeast China stood trial in Daqing, Heilongjiang Province, July 31, a police source said Sunday.

Heilongjiang police arrested the leader and some key members of the cult branch in northeast China in June 2017, according to a police statement.

“Almighty God,” known in Chinese as Quannengshen, grabbed national headlines in May 2014 when videos went viral showing five of its members beating a woman to death at a McDonald’s in Zhaoyuan, eastern Shandong Province, condemning her as an “evil spirit” as she refused to give them her mobile phone number for recruitment purposes.

“The ‘Almighty God’ cult has been predominantly violent,” said Huang Chao, managing director of the international research center on cult issues with Wuhan University, Central China’s Hubei Province.

According to Huang, police have processed more than 100 violent incidents initiated by the “Almighty God” members across the country, and on more than 30 occasions they resisted law enforcement with violence. (Xinhua)