Protest Calm as Crowd Peaks at About 3,000
The singing and low-key demonstrations that took place in Little Saigon on Saturday were a dramatic contrast to the 15,000 protesters who descended upon the Westminster community the night before.
On Saturday, only a few hundred showed up in the morning and afternoon. The crowd then grew to more than 3,000 by 10 p.m. Police reported no incidents.
Protest organizers had told police they expected 50,000 demonstrators for a nighttime rally with live bands. However, some of the big-name bands declined to show, and that put a major damper on crowd size.
The evening festivities were highlighted by a tribute to about a dozen Vietnam veterans, who were called onto a stage and honored by the crowd.
Friday night’s vigil was the largest gathering in weeks of demonstrations provoked by a merchant who posted a communist flag and photograph of the late Ho Chi Minh in his video rental store. Police made 10 arrests for disturbing the peace Friday night, said Westminster Police Sgt. David McDowell.
“It wasn’t that many arrests considering the size of the crowd,” McDowell said.
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