- Title: SOUTH VIETNAM: MOB ATTACKS VC-FLAG-WAVERS
- Date: 25th July 1970
- Summary: 1. Men on statue ZOOM into closer view 2. American military policeman 3. Different view of men on statue 4. Crowd begins stoning men 5. Frenchmen hold up arms 6. More stoning ZOOM into men 7. Flag ripped down and man runs off with it 8. Man argues with one Frenchman 9. Other Frenchman falls down from pl
- Embargoed: 9th August 1970 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: SAIGON
- Country: Vietnam
- Reuters ID: LVA5PW043GFLVN9RTIB8IP4FO1HG
- Story Text: Two young Frenchmen narrowly escaped death at the hands of an outraged mob in Saigon today (Saturday) after they had climbed atop a monument to South Vietnamese marines and waved a Vietcong flag.
It was lunchtime when the two men, both 26-year-old schoolteachers, climbed the monument which is in the heart of Saigon.
Crowds began gathering and soon of them began stoning the two men who held up their hands to ward off the missiles.
Then a bystander climbed the monument and ripped down the Communist flag while another argued with and threatened one of the Frenchmen.
Soon afterwards, apparently at the behest of two plainclothes policemen, the men came down. One tumbled from the plinth and the mob set upon him, kicking him and beating him with stones and sticks until police finally intervened.
A government spokesman said the two Frenchmen were now in police custody and would be charged under a section of the constitution which outlaws all form of Communist activity.
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