By Louis Chan, AsAmNews National Correspondent, Photos by Bernie Chu
(Updated: This story is updated with the identities of the victims)
Some 40 people showed up at a block party for a Vietnamese American family Saturday racially harassed by neighbors in the Orange County city of Garden Grove.
About 7-8 officers showed up to monitor the situation for any potential trouble. A spokesman for the Garden Grove Police Department said the officers left after two hours.
The party began at 1 and went into the night. Police say there were no reports of trouble.
LATEST STORIES
“We were there to provide protection for everybody,” said the Sergeant to AsAmNews, “to make sure it didn’t get too large and just to have a presence there.”
He said police were there to protect both families involved in the dispute, as well as the crowd. The Sergeant says reports on social media that officers escorted the family accused of being the harassers away for their own safety are incorrect.
The Vietnamese American family says it meant a lot to them to see people to come out to back them. However, they also expressed disappointment that more did not attend.
Tensions intensified a few days ago when video on social media showed two White girls in their backyard screaming to the other family enjoying some time in their own backyard.
“Ya, b**ch, ya… Wow, you actually understand something,” one teenager said. “I thought you didn’t understand words,” the girls screamed to the mother.
Since then, someone has scrawled the words “racists” on the street in front of the accused harassers home. Police say they responded to a vandalism report. At this time they have no suspects.
Although billed as a protest, the block party was more festive.
According to one of the organizers of the block party, the couple being harassed is Ron and Vivian Tran. The organizer also tells AsAmNews one of the people who lives in the home of the accused harassers is named “Devin.” Police declined to released the names of the accused to AsAmNews. The Trans say they have been harassed since first moving into the neighborhood several months ago.
Garden Grove is 37% Asian, and Vietnamese Americans make up 27% of the population alone. It’s the largest concentration of Vietnamese Americans in any city except nearby Westminster.
AsAmNews has Asian America in its heart. We’re an all-volunteer effort of dedicated staff and interns. Check out our new Instagram account. Go to our Twitter feed and Facebook page for more content. Please consider interning, joining our staff, or submitting a story.
