Sima and his family have repeatedly been threatened by angry cult followers. There are three aspects. Second, Li Hongzhi hit out at the media and state institutions everywhere. The popular response shows that his actions dovetailed with certain social sentiments. Finally, the overestimation of Li's power by foreign and domestic media, plus the current crackdown, has made him larger than life.
Corruption causes people to lose faith.
Without corruption, there will still be Falungong, but graft has accelerated its expansion. The ban was right, though it came too late. And the methods are questionable. I had named Falungong as a cult many years ago, but the authorities simply declared it illegal because Li had political motives. This method has limitations in dealing with spiritual problems.