Westminster Councilman Wins $8,500 From Political Foes

Two political opponents of Westminster City Councilman Tony Lam have been ordered to pay him $8,500 as part of a lawsuit stemming from protests in Little Saigon, Lam’s attorney said Monday.

Demonstrators in January began targeting a Westminster video store owner who displayed a Vietnamese Communist flag and other symbols that many found offensive. As the protests grew, demonstrators began picketing Lam’s Garden Grove restaurant as a way of rebuking the Vietnamese American leader for not participating in the Little Saigon unrest.

Lam filed a lawsuit in March, accusing political opponents Ky Ngo and Xuan Dang of disrupting his business during the 73-day picket, said Lam’s attorney, Edward Susolik. Ngo allegedly organized the protest, while Dang, who is Lam’s landlord, allowed protesters to use his premises to launch the demonstrations outside Lam’s Vietnamese restaurant, he said.

The defendants filed a motion arguing that Lam’s lawsuit against them was likely to fail and asked that it be dismissed, Susolik said. But Orange County Superior Court Judge Robert Monarch noted that Lam already had succeeded in obtaining two temporary restraining orders and an injunction against Ngo and Dang and found the motion frivolous, the attorney said.

Ngo and Dang were ordered to reimburse Lam for the cost of defending himself, Susolik said. Their attorneys, Geoffrey Lyon and Alan Boon, also were ordered to pay part of Lam’s legal fees, the attorney said.

Lam said the ordeal has cost him more than $80,000--and emotional stress.

“I’m very bitter, especially because they hurt my family with name-calling,” Lam said. “I’ve cried many nights because of this.”

Although contributors at a recent fund-raiser gave him $30,000 toward his legal fees, Lam said he is still struggling financially.

“I’m selling my house to afford legal fees,” he said.

Lyon said he and his client, Ngo, will appeal. Boon and Dang could not be reached for comment Monday.

The lawsuit, which is still pending, contends Lam’s landlord had conspired with Ngo and other protesters to destroy his business, Susolik said.

“The landlord participated with protesters, gave them a place to stay and stored their signs,” Susolik said. “These were not peaceful pickets but violent, with disgusting effigies of Lam.”

Protesters began picketing Lam’s restaurant in March, accusing him of not standing alongside the Vietnamese American community during the controversy over Truong Van Tran’s display of the Communist flag in his video store.

The members of Westminster’s City Council, including Lam, were advised by the city attorney not to take a public position on the issue for liability reasons.

Tran’s decision to display the Vietnamese flag in January sparked two months of noisy protests, forcing him to close his video store. The demonstrations took a turn when Westminster police entered the store to investigate a burglary and discovered 17,000 counterfeit videos.

The protests ended shortly after Tran’s arrest in March. In August, he was convicted of video piracy and sentenced to 90 days in Orange County Jail and 80 days of community service.