Target of Little Saigon Protests Gets 90-Day Term

A Little Saigon shopkeeper convicted of video piracy and given a 90-day jail sentence Tuesday was unrepentant after his court appearance, saying that he has no regrets about displaying the Communist symbols that sparked two months of protests at his store and ultimately drew attention to his video counterfeiting.

“Clearly, it’s unfair,” Truong Van Tran said during an interview at his home after his sentencing. “If they say what I did is wrong, then they should arrest all the other [video store owners] in Little Saigon because everyone does the same thing.”

Tran and his lawyer said they regard the criminal charge as a ploy by Westminster officials to end 53 days of noisy protests that cost the city more than $750,000 in police services.

Orange County Superior Court Judge Corey Cramin found Tran guilty on a felony charge of illegally copying thousands of videotapes at his business in a Bolsa Avenue mini-mall. Cramin also sentenced Tran to three years’ probation and ordered him to perform 80 days of community service, donate his 147 VCRs to charity and destroy 17,000 counterfeit tapes. Tran had agreed to waive his right to a jury trial.

Tran’s attorney, Ron Talmo, said the conviction is being appealed. The judge agreed to stay Tran’s jail sentence during that process, provided that he follows the terms of his probation.

Tran, 37, sparked a two-month protest in mid-January when he posted a picture of the late Communist leader Ho Chi Minh and the flag of the current Vietnamese government in his video shop.

His actions ignited passionate protest from thousands of Vietnamese emigres in the community who considered the Communist symbols offensive. Many are exiles and former political prisoners who fled the Communist regime in their homeland.

Tran has defended his actions by saying that he wanted to prompt dialogue in a community that has never accepted dissent on the issue of normalizing relations with Vietnam.

Tran said Tuesday that he sees himself as a champion of free speech and has no regrets, even though the protests cost him his business and livelihood.

“I don’t regret anything I did. I did what I thought was right. I wanted to have my voice heard,” he said.