http://www.grandforks.com/mld/grandforksherald/news/opinion/2735404.htm
CROOKSTON - I read the article about Benjamin Thong and thought I might address it ("Former UND lecturer appeals his conviction on theft charge," Page 4C, Feb. 16).
The article paper states that Thong was removed twice from UND. However, according to the Grand Forks Herald article I read last year, Thong settled with UND last year after having proved his case of racial discrimination, citing statements made to him and discriminatory actions by a staff member (who later was removed) and lack of due process after being removed by force from UND by campus police.
Thong was reinstated by Judge Bruce Bohlman and left on his own accord after settling with UND for an undisclosed amount.
According to Supreme Court records, Thong was arrested for shoplifting cooked chicken in a brown satchel. He claims he was outside talking to a friend when he was arrested. No chicken or satchel ever was found or submitted to police or the grocery store, although one city witness said that when Thong came into the police station, he carried a brown paper bag. "No chicken" means "No evidence."
The article states that Thong gave the wrong name and address to the court. The Supreme Court docket, however, clearly states that "the officer did not testify - on page 12, 13 or 14 - that he saw any identification at all. Only that the officer reported on two separate occasions, the appellant "told me" that "his name was Ben Ong."
There was no testimony by the officer that he requested the name be spelled out or written down.
As noted in the appellant's brief, "the matter of the pronunciation of appellant's name is a cultural and linguistic study . . . of the word "thong" that are dependent upon the precise form of the accent marks and suffixes. Because of the accent mark over the "o" in the word "Thong," the "th" is not pronounced.
In other words, he did not give a false name, but was misunderstood by the arresting officer. The supposed "false information" relates to the issue of an English-speaking listener attempting to write down a phonetic version of a Vietnamese name.
Thong was staying with friends after being ousted the last week from UND. Officer Wyatt testified that he asked for the address, and Thong replied only that "I know it was on North 21st Street. I don't remember the exact number."
Subsequently, all mail sent to Thong - including that from his attorney, to whom he had paid already a substantial amount - was sent to "Ong on 21st St." and was returned.
How, I wonder, if they never got his real name or address was he picked up a month later on a bench warrant? The question still remains.
Why did Dr. Benjamin Thong, a U.S. naturalized citizen for 30 years with no previous problems in Las Vegas, Arizona or Boston, have such a rough time in Grand Forks? Is it another case of Grand Forks xenophobia? Did Thong resemble an Indian in appearance? Or did Thong just have a "bad week"?
So the North Dakota appellate court will decide the fate of and whether a foreigner, a doctor of education, can be arrested with no corpus delicti (body of evidence, the evidence of a crime), whose name has been misunderstood, who just has been pushed against a wall by UND police the week before and held with his arms behind his back when he requested due process, while campus police threw everything in and on his desk into a green plastic garbage bag.
Welcome to Grand Forks, foreigners!
Glenda Miskin
Miskin, a former UND student, has a longstanding complaint against UND, dating back to her suspension from the university in 1998-99. She has alleged in lawsuits and complaints that UND discriminated and retaliated against her.