Incident Summary:
7/21/1981: An unknown perpetrator shot and killed Lam Trong Duong in San Francisco, California, United States. Duong was an outspoken supporter of Vietnam's communist government and the editor of Cai Dinh Lang, a Vietnamese language newspaper. Two Vietnamese anti-communist groups admitted responsibility for carrying out the attack, however authorities could not confirm that whether these claims were valid.
Overview
GTD ID:
198107210008
When:
1981-07-21
Country:
United States
Region:
North America
Province/administrative
region/u.s. state:
California
City:
San Francisco
Location Details:
O'Farrel Street in the Tenderloin district
What
Attack Information
Type of Attack () |
Assassination |
Successful Attack? () |
Yes |
Target Information ()
Target Type: Journalists & Media |
Name of Entity |
Vietnamese journalist supporting Vietnam's communist government |
Specific Description |
Lam Trong Duong |
Nationality of Target |
Vietnam |
Additional Information
Hostages |
No |
Ransom |
No |
Property Damage |
No |
How
Weapon Information
Type |
Sub-type |
Firearms |
Handgun |
Weapon Details |
. 25 caliber automatic pistol |
Additional Information
Suicide Attack? | No |
Part of Multiple Incident? | No |
Criterion 1 () |
Yes |
Criterion 2 () |
Yes |
Criterion 3 () |
Yes |
Additional Information |
Lam Trong Duong was shot outside of his apartment at 11:15 AM by, according to a witness, an Asian man in a white windbreaker who was previously engaged in a ten minute conversation with Duong. Originally, Duong's friend Nguyen Van Dat was accused of being the shooter, but charges against him were eventually dropped. In a letter sent to the Associated Press postmarked the day of the incident, the Anti-Communist Viets Organization claimed responsibility for shooting Duong because of his pro-communist views. A week later, a similar letter claiming responsibility for the shooting was sent to a Vietnamese newspaper in Garden Grove, California by the Vietnamese Organization to Exterminate Communists and Restore the Nation . This letter was titled, "Announcement 2." |
Who
Perpetrator Statistics
Number of Perpetrators |
1 |
Number of Captured Perpetrators |
0 |
Casualty Information
Total Number of Casualties |
1 Fatalities / 0 Injured |
Total Number of Fatalities |
1 |
Number of U.S. Fatalities |
0 |
Number of Perpetrator Fatalities |
0 |
Total Number of Injured |
0 |
Number of U.S. Injured |
0 |
Number of Perpetrators Injured |
0 |
Sources
Sources
Wayne King, "U.S. Vietnamese Rally for Resistance," New York Times, June 3, 1982. |
Katherine Bishop, "Killings of Vietnamese Baffle California Police," New York Times, August 25, 1987. |
Judith Coburn, "Terror in Saigontown, U.S.A.," Mother Jones, February-March, 1983. |
Criteria
Criteria 1
The act must be aimed at attaining a political, economic, religious, or social goal. In terms of economic goals, the exclusive pursuit of profit does not satisfy this criterion. It must involve the pursuit of more profound, systemic economic change.
Criterion 2
There must be evidence of an intention to coerce, intimidate, or convey some other message to a larger audience (or audiences) than the immediate victims. It is the act taken as a totality that is considered, irrespective if every individual involved in carrying out the act was aware of this intention. As long as any of the planners or decision-makers behind the attack intended to coerce, intimidate or publicize, the intentionality criterion is met.
Criterion 3
The action must be outside the context of legitimate warfare activities. That is, the act must be outside the parameters permitted by international humanitarian law (particularly the prohibition against deliberately targeting civilians or non-combatants.
Doubt Terrorism Proper
The existence of a "Yes" for "Doubt Terrorism Proper?" records reservation, in the eyes of GTD analysts, that the incident in question is truly terrorism. Such uncertainty, however, was not deemed to be sufficient to disqualify the incident from inclusion into the GTD. Furthermore, such a determination of doubt is subsequently coded by GTD analysts as conforming to one of four possible alternative designations: 1) Insurgency/Guerilla Action; 2) Internecine Conflict Action; 3) Mass Murder; or 4) Purely Criminal Act.
Alternate Designation
The determination of "yes" for "Doubt Terrorism Proper" by GTD analysts is coded as conforming to one of four possible alternative designations: 1) Insurgency/Guerilla Action; 2) Internecine Conflict Action; 3) Mass Murder; or 4) Purely Criminal Act.
Successful Attack
Success of a terrorist strike is defined according to the tangible effects of the attack. For example, in a typical successful bombing, the bomb detonates and destroys property and/or kills individuals, whereas an unsuccessful bombing is one in which the bomb is discovered and defused or detonates early and kills the perpetrators. Success is not judged in terms of the larger goals of the perpetrators. For example, a bomb that exploded in a building would be counted as a success even if it did not, for example, succeed in bringing the building down or inducing government repression.
Type of Attack
This field captures the general method of attack and often reflects the broad class of tactics used. It consists of the following nine categories:
- Assassination
- Armed Assault
- Unarmed Assault
- Bombing/Explosion
- Hijacking
- Hostage taking (Barricade Incident)
- Hostage taking (Kidnapping)
- Facility / Infrastructure Attack
- Unknown
Target Information
This field captures the general type of target. It consists of the following 22 categories:
- Abortion Related
- Airports & Airlines
- Business
- Government (General)
- Government (Diplomatic)
- Educational Institution
- Food or Water Supply
- Journalists & Media
- Maritime (includes Ports and Maritime facilities)
- Military
- NGO
- Other
- Police
- Private Citizens & Property
- Religious Figures/Institutions
- Telecommunication
- Terrorists
- Tourists
- Transportation (other than aviation)
- Unknown
- Utilities
- Violent Political Parties