Judge limits protests at Vietnamese newspaper

A judge Tuesday put restrictions on demonstrators who have protested outside a Vietnamese-language newspaper in Little Saigon daily since late January.

The preliminary injunction restricts protesters from threatening newspaper employees, vandalizing newspaper property, trespassing and interfering with customers and employees.

The demonstrators have argued that their protests are an act of free speech in opposition to Nguoi Viet Daily News’ decision to print a photo they said was sympathetic to communists.

But Orange County Superior Court Judge Derek Hunt was not persuaded. “Free speech is not an excuse to infringe on the rights of others,” he said, citing witness testimony that the protesters had shoved and chased reporters, urinated behind vehicles and shouted in people’s faces with bullhorns.

The protesters say a photo that appeared in Nguoi Viet – of a foot spa painted with the colors of the South Vietnamese flag – was offensive. After a week of daily protests, the newspaper publicly apologized to protesters, fired two top editors, and offered refunds for the issue.

But a handful of protesters continued to stage daily demonstrations in the parking lot in front of the newspaper’s offices. They want the newspaper to hold a public hearing on the issue.

The newspaper filed a lawsuit against three of the protesters, alleging they have harassed and threatened employees and potential customers of the paper.

“All along, the newspaper has said that we honor the individual right to protest and we are here to listen to people,” said Anh Do, the newspaper’s editor in chief. “But we cannot stay silent when the illegal actions of the protesters threaten to harm our safety and the security of our staff and customers.”

The protesters said they would follow the preliminary injunction, but would continue to protest the newspaper. They maintain they have not violated the law.

Last week, however, Trong Doan, one of the lead protesters, was arrested on suspicion of punching one of the paper’s reporters in front of the newspaper’s offices in Westminster.

On Tuesday, Doan, 59, said, “We have to obey the law, and we have been obeying the law. The protest spirit never changes in my heart. We fight because we believe in it.”

The trial is scheduled to begin Oct. 6.

my-thuan.tran@latimes.com