Protesters Chase Viet Film Maker
Chanting “VC movies are no good,” about 200 demonstrators, largely from Orange County’s immigrant Vietnamese community, protested the appearance of Vietnamese film makers at UCLA on Thursday night and chased one visiting Vietnamese to his car, officials said.
Three Vietnamese directors and several American film makers appeared on the panel “Images of the Vietnam War From Both Sides” at the Westwood campus’ Melnitz Theater, but one visiting Vietnamese, who was not connected with the program, left early with his American host, said Geofrey D. Gilmore, director of the panel discussion.
When the two men left the auditorium, protesters said, the visitor pushed a nationalist Vietnamese flag--recognized as the only legitimate flag by Vietnamese in this country--to the ground.
Demonstrators then began yelling, “Kill him,” and hurled objects as the Vietnamese and a member of the United States-Vietnam Friendship Committee walked quickly to their car. Campus police said there were no injuries and no one was arrested.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
