I was on my way to pick up Number Two Son from school when I noticed that traffic was slowing ahead. At a large intersection, I saw that the police had blocked off the left turn lane going to the post office near my house. Other approaches to the Post Office were also blocked off by police.
As I found out later, a man in a gas mask and what appeared to be body armor dropped off a package in the post office, and his suspicious outfit triggered a Bomb Scare.
Turns out that the suspicious character was Long Hoang, shown here. Hoang is not a terrorist – he was wearing a gas mask in an attempt to simulate altitude training as part of the CrossFit exercise program. His “body armor” was just a vest loaded with weights. He decided to drop off a package while he was out jogging. I have to admit that it would be unsettling if someone dressed like this pulled up next to me and dropped off a package. I live and run in the area, and I have never seen anyone like this.
When Tim forwarded this article, he mentioned that on the surface, it really doesn’t have anything to do with Asian America other than the fact that Hoang is Asian American. I would probably add that the incident did take place in the Asian American neighborhood where I live. He did get angry over some of the comments:
“You’re buying the story of someone named Long Hoang?”
“Ph-ckin-g gook.”
Sigh. There was one insightful comment that mentioned that Hoang is lucky he wasn’t stopped by San Jose Police, especially given what happened to other Vietnamese and Vietnamese Americans like Phuong Ho, Daniel Pham and Cau Bich Tran. Hoang called the police to let them know it was him, and they found that his story checked out. A police robot blew up his package, which were calendars that were wrongly delivered to him.
(Photo Courtesy of Long Hoang)
