Incident Summary:
9/22/1990: Unknown perpetrators shot and killed Triet Le and his wife Tuyet Thi Dang-Tran outside of their home in Bailey's Crossroads, Virginia, United States. Le was a columnist for the controversial Vietnamese magazine Tien Phong and an outspoken critic of communism. His name was also on a hit-list credited to the Vietnamese Organization to Exterminate Communists and Restore the Nation (VOECRN), however, the VOECRN denied any involvement in the assassination.
Overview
GTD ID:
199009220011
When:
1990-09-22
Country:
United States
Region:
North America
Province/administrative
region/u.s. state:
Virginia
City:
Bailey's Crossroads
Location Details:
Danny's Lane in Sunset Manor
What
Attack Information
| Type of Attack () |
Assassination |
| Successful Attack? () |
Yes |
Target Information ()
| Target Type: Journalists & Media |
|---|
| Name of Entity |
Tien Phong magazine |
| Specific Description |
Triet Le |
| Nationality of Target |
Vietnam |
Additional Information
| Hostages |
No |
| Ransom |
No |
| Property Damage |
No |
How
Weapon Information
| Type |
Sub-type |
| Firearms |
Unknown Gun Type |
| Weapon Details |
|---|
| Three gunshots |
Additional Information
| Suicide Attack? | No |
| Part of Multiple Incident? | No |
| Criterion 1 () |
Yes |
| Criterion 2 () |
Yes |
| Criterion 3 () |
Yes |
| Additional Information |
The bodies of Triet Le and Tuyet Thi Dang-Tran were discovered by a neighbor at approximately 11:30 PM. A car was heard speeding away around the time of the incident. One year before the attack, Nhan Trong Do, a layout editor for Tien Phong, was shot and killed (198911220013). In 1980, the house of the publisher of Tien Phong, Nguyen Thanh Hoang, was firebombed (198001260019). There was an attempted firebombing of the same house in January, 1989 (198901000002). Authorities were unsure who was behind the assassination because Le had a lot of enemies and received a lot of threats. |
Who
Perpetrator Group Information
| Group Name |
Claimed Responsibility |
| Unknown |
No |
Perpetrator Statistics
| Number of Perpetrators |
Unknown |
| Number of Captured Perpetrators |
0 |
Casualty Information
| Total Number of Casualties |
2 Fatalities / 0 Injured |
| Total Number of Fatalities |
2 |
| 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
| Brooke A. Masters, "Columnist, Wife Slain In Fairfax; Vietnamese Writer Is 2nd on Staff to Die," Washington Post, September 24, 1990. |
| Enrique J. Gonzales, "Slain Vietnamese Editor on Hit List of Clandestine Group," Washington Times, September 26, 1990. |
| "Like Father, Like Son: A Columnist is Ambushed," Time Magazine, October 8, 1990. |
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
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