Hopefully the holidays will bring better luck to Hero Ly Tong, because these last few days haven’t been good. First, he got defrauded out of a bunch of money. Then he lost his lawyers in a case of assault against a singer – it’s not clear if he fired them or they fired him. He also lost faith in the high hopes he’d pinned on the newly elected D.A., “a Jew.”

Somebody in Atlanta – with an address on “Gun Club Rd” no less, printed checkbooks with the same account and routing number (which Tong called “Round” number) as Tong’s, and wrote it for $50. Tong lost $50 from that, he said in an email.

Then someone charged his credit card number $100 and $6.95. Not clear how it happened.

And then he bought some video editing software from Corel, and even though he couldn’t download it he got charged for it all the same. So he’s out another $79.98.

Check out this printout from his online banking. He complained to his bank, Wells Fargo, and got his $50 back, but not the other three charges.

And on 12/22 he announced that his lawyers were not representing him any more. The main point seems to be that he wanted to proceed to trial but his lawyers kept trying to make him plead.

And apparently they didn’t want to go to trial, so they filed a motion to withdraw, he consented, and now he’s on the Public Defender’s list.

In a lengthy email explaining his reasonings, Tong disclosed that his lawyer Tam Nguyen (in pic below) also told Tong that the current judge, Philip Pennypacker, is very “friendly” (Tam Nguyen’s words as quoted by Tong) to Nguyen because he was one of the people who voted for the judge. But the judge was retiring, so Nguyen wanted Tong to plead out.

Tong also disclosed that his lawyers had told him the newly elected Santa Clara County District Attorney, “a Jew,” would be more sympathetic. But when the new D.A. didn’t fire the prosecutor in charge of the case, Kevin Cogbill, they freaked out. Check it out here if you read Vietnamese.

Guess it means Ly Tong won’t be saying “Chanukah Sameach” any time soon.

So, Merry Christmas, Ly Tong.

OK, so if you don’t know Bui Kim Thanh, you may want to revisit this, this and this.

Now, maybe the woman has a medical condition that makes her prone to fainting. Or something.

But anyway, so there was a concert at the Anaheim Arena on Saturday, and hundreds of Vietnamese-American protestors (600, according to Anaheim PD Sgt. Chris Pena) came out to protest. Because Dam Vinh Hung – the victim of Ly Tong‘s criminal act – sang there.

So anyway, Bui Kim Thanh scored herself a ticket. When she passed the security check point, but before entering the arena, she stopped, whipped out a couple flags, and started shouting slogans and trying to stop people from going in.

Security came and asked her to leave. She said no, wait, I need to call 9-1-1.

So she picked up her phone, and dialed something.

Then she spoke into the phone, in Vietnamese: “Is this 9-1-1? I am lawyer Bui Kim Thanh, communists are terrorizing me.”

(Bui Kim Thanh has been calling herself “the people’s lawyer” since her days fighting the communist government’s land-grab in Vietnam.)

Security asked her to leave, she wouldn’t. Security called the cops, and when cops came she said she don’t speak English. So they got a Viet cop.

A Viet cop came. (Pena is the cop to the right, below.) He asked her to leave, or else he’d put her under arrest.

That pissed her off. She yelled, “You have no right!”

“This is the USA, I’m calling 9-1-1, I have a ticket, why are you making me leave,” she yelled.

And then, referring to the time in Vietnam when the government arrested her, she said something that made no sense to the Bolsavik:

“I went to prison to protect U.S. rule of law. I’m not going to leave. This is the law of the jungle.”

So, really, what does getting arrested in Vietnam (for a good cause, granted) have to do with U.S. rule of law? No idea.

Anyway, so if she ain’t gonna leave of her own accord, cops are gonna make her.

Half way down the hall, she caught a fainting spell again.

Told you so. If she fainted once she certainly will faint again. So cops called EMS, and cuffed her.

EMS came, took one look at her, and put her on a wheelchair. Cops wheeled her away, took her to the station and charged her with trespassing and obstruction of business.

Last year, when Bui Kim Thanh protested VAALA, she asked VAALA to give her the ride home. And they did.

It’s not clear who gave Bui Kim Thanh the ride home from the police station this time.

Ly Tong, the man who spent the last 14 months or so on the fringe of Vietnamese-American society, thrusted himself back in the limelight by dressing up as a woman and pepper-spraying a singer from Vietnam at a concert in Santa Clara.

It’s not the first time Ly Tong made news with a spray can and women’s wear. Last year, he spray painted an artwork and glued lingerie panties to it.

Nguoi Viet Daily News has a detailed story here (in Vietnamese), including accounts from an eyewitness.

According to the witness, she was sitting 3 seats away from Ly Tong at the concert featuring Dam Vinh Hung, a singer who frequently goes by the name Mr Dam.

Ly Tong came in drags, accompanied by a woman. The witness told Nguoi Viet:

“He was wearing a dress but his legs were all spread out. I and my friend were telling each other, ‘That guy’s so gross, dressing as a woman.’ At first we thought maybe Dam Vinh Hung is gay and this gay guy has a crush on him.”

Halfway through the show, Ly Tong came up and assaulted the singer. A press release from the Santa Clara Police Department says:

Ly accomplished the assault by posing as a woman. He purchased a ticket at the door to gain entry to the event and approached the stage acting as if he was going to give Hung Dam a flower. When the performer approached to take the gift, Ly sprayed him with the chemical irritant.

Ly was taken into custody immediately after the assault by Santa Clara police officers who were present at the event. Ly’s motive for the assault is thought to be political in nature.

The spray affected not just Mr Dam but also another singer on stage with him, Mỹ Tâm, and members of the audience.

The police’s press release says, “the audience of several hundred people had to be evacuated temporarily. The show resumed after the venue was ventilated and Santa Clara Fire Department personnel administered first aid.”

The audience member who spoke to Nguoi Viet also said the chemical was spreading throughout the room. “When he sprayed it, everybody knew it’s just pepper spray. At first, the people in the front row, the VIP row, were coughing. Then it spread and me, in the cheapest seats, next to the last row, also coughed.”

Ly Tong is being held in Santa Clara County Jail “on several charges.” Attempts to raise funds to bail him out failed, so Ly Tong announced that he didn’t want to be bailed out.

As news of Ly Tong’s actions spread throughout the web, on Facebook and on the listservs, right-wingers rejoiced.

Many applauded Ly Tong and professed their admiration of him. Which goes, of course, to prove that Vietnamese love children.

One man who’s probably not amused is Congressman Joseph “Anh” Cao. He appeared at the protest outside the concert, but now he’s totally upstaged.

Meanwhile, Mr Dam showed up in Orange County and spoke with members of the local Viet press. He’s scheduled to be part of a concert at Anaheim Arena on July 24, and Mr Dam said he’d be there despite threats of protest.

Said he, “The older people are determined to destroy my show this time, destroy it once to be a lesson to other singers. On the side of the promoters and organizers, including myself, we are equally determined to be there to serve our public.”

The promoter, however, isn’t so sure. Dung Taylor told Nguoi Viet’s reporter that next time he may not ask Dam Vinh Hung to appear.