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Activist Ly Tong was arrested Sunday night for allegedly posing as a woman and pepper-spraying a Vietnamese singer during a concert at the Santa Clara Convention Center.
The man accused of assaulting a Vietnamese pop star with pepper spray during a concert last month in Santa Clara entered a not-guilty plea to all charges Wednesday in Santa Clara County Superior Court.
Ly Tong, the self-styled anti-communist “freedom fighter,” dressed up as a woman to avoid detectionat the concert, then zapped pop star Dam Vinh Hung, police say. He will return to court Oct. 14 for a preliminary hearing.
Tong, 62, has been charged with four felony counts, including burglary and the unauthorized use of a tear gas, and one misdemeanor for resisting arrest. He was also ordered to stay away from Hung.
The former South Vietnamese air force pilot, who has been out on bond since July 24, told the Mercury News outside the courtroom Wednesday that he would probably agree to plead guilty to the misdemeanor, but not to the other charges.
“I was defending myself and my community,” Tong said of his actions. Tong’s lawyers say Hung is part of a communist youth league in Vietnam.
On July 25, Tong and a busload of other Vietnamese immigrants went to Anaheim to protest outside Hung’s concert, where they were greeted by about 4,000 other anti-communists who protested outside.
After Wednesday’s court date before Judge Jerome Nadler, Tong had planned to hop aboard a plane and fly to Sydney, Australia, where Hung was going to perform. But Michael Luu, one of Tong’s attorneys, said that concert has been canceled, and Tong will be staying home in San Jose for now.
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