The Vietnamese Foreign Ministry has asked the Consulate General in San Francisco to protect Vietnamese citizen Ho Phuong after he was caught on film being beaten by American police.

Student Ho Phuong (photo: Daily Mail)

Ministry spokeswoman Nguyen Phuong Nga said: “The Vietnamese public opinion is discontented with this case. Violence and abuse of police powers is unacceptable.”

Ho Phuong is a mathematics student at the San Jose University. On October 24, the San Jose Mercury News’ website posted a video clip showing an officer repeatedly hitting the 20-year-old Vietnamese with a metal baton. Another officer is seen using his taser gun.

Officers arrested Ho on suspicion of assaulting one a roommate. He was not armed when police arrived and told the newspaper he didn’t resist arrest.

The confrontation began September 3 when Ho’s roommate, Jeremy Suftin reportedly, put soap on Ho’s steak. The two scuffled, and Ho picked up a steak knife, saying that in his home country he would have killed Suftin for doing what he did. Police were called, and four officers responded.

Another one of Ho’s roommates, Dimitri Masouris, captured the events on his cell phone. Masouris said he considered the police response excessive. He sold the tape to San Jose lawyer Duyen Hoang Nguyen, who is representing Ho. The Mercury News obtained a copy of the video and showed it to San Jose’s police.

Linh Thu