HOUSTON -- A longstanding ‘family fight’ in Houston’s Vietnamese community has now spilled over into Houston City Hall, the Harris County Criminal Courts and the Houston Police Department.
It centers around District F Houston City Councilman Al Hoang.
There are two criminal complaints. One was filed in March by a political opponent who took his complaint to city council. The other was filed by Hoang's sister over the disruption of a public meeting.
That case will be arraigned March 23 in County Criminal Court No. 2.
It's a big topic for some at Lee’s Sandwiches in the heart of District F in southwest Houston. David Nguyen and Tin Ha have been friends for 20 years. On this day, they're listening to a cell phone recording from their councilman's angry sister-in-law to a political opponent.
Is there a death threat on there?
“Yes. Yes, it’s true,” Nguyen says.
Ha doesn’t hear it.
“I don't think so,” he said.
The two are long-time friends who hear and see things completely differently when it comes to Councilman Hoang.
Nguyen, who works at a law firm, says the argument has divided much of the community.
“Yes, it's a big conflict,” he said.
Last month, Hoang's family and supporters faced off with critics. Home video cameras captured plenty of shouting and confrontation. Several uniformed policemen showed up.
Several days before that, another of Hoang's relatives was accosted by critics. One beat on the family car and another opened the car door and threw in water from a cup.
They were upset that Hoang's sister, Theresa, had been elected as a community president and claimed that election was rigged. The meeting when the vote was held was interrupted when somebody deliberately shut down the air conditioning.
Surveillance camera video captured someone turning off the power at the breaker box. So Theresa Hoang filed a criminal complaint for disruption of a meeting.
Etienne Nguyen wants Al Hoang's job.
On Tuesday, March 22, he went to Houston City Council to talk about what he called a threatening phone call from Hoang’s sister-in-law.
He told council the voicemail said “she know where I live…and, if need to, she will poison my kids.”
He's filed a police complaint about it, alleging threats and harassment.
Councilman Hoang declined to comment about all this. The feud reportedly began when he recognized communist China, which infuriated many of his constituents who escaped under harsh conditions from communist Vietnam.
11 News had two independent Vietnamese speakers listen to the phone message, which was of poor quality. They said the speaker was clearly angry, but said they did not hear any explicit threats.
The Houston Police Department is investigating.
