Judge Extends Picket Ruling to Parking Lot

Protesters must stay off Westminster Councilman Tony Lam’s restaurant property and parking lot, an Orange County Superior Court judge ruled Monday, but they can continue to picket on the public sidewalk in front.

Dozens of protesters have picketed at Lam’s Garden Grove restaurant since March 12 demanding his recall because he did not appear at demonstrations against a Little Saigon merchant who displayed a Communist flag and Ho Chi Minh picture.

In a lawsuit filed last week, Lam alleged that some of the protesters have harassed customers, shouted obscenities and urinated in public.

Judge Robert D. Monarch granted Lam a temporary restraining order Friday requiring the protesters to stay away from the Vien Dong Restaurant.

But Lam’s attorney, Jonathan Slipp, said police were not keeping the protesters far enough away because the order did not specifically include the parking lots. Slipp returned to court Monday so the judge could modify the original order to include the front and rear lots.

Demonstrator Ky Ngo, named in the restraining order, said the protesters will comply but will continue picketing.

Lam is also seeking unspecified damages against his landlord, alleging interference with the restaurant’s business by allowing protesters to set up on an adjacent property, Slipp said.