Aides to Rep. Scott scheduled to testify on Virginia Tech threats

Two aides to Rep. Robert “Bobby” Scott (D-Va.) will testify against a
Richmond, Va., man accused of sending the office a bloody letter
referencing the 2007 Virginia Tech massacre and threatening a U.S.
official.

Phuong Nguyen Le, 50, is scheduled to stand trial Thursday on one count of sending a threatening communication.

{mosads}Le pleaded guilty earlier this year to sending a letter to Scott threatening to “cut off the head” of U.S. Consular Station Chief Charles Bennett in Vietnam.

Le faces up to 20 years in prison.

He later withdrew the guilty plea, arguing that communications difficulties and a language barrier caused him to misunderstand the elements of the offense.

An intern in Scott’s offices opened a blood-stained letter late last year and notified two aides, according to an affidavit in support of the criminal complaint against Le. Another employee put on a plastic glove, picked up the letter and read it out loud. It was addressed to Scott and contained Le’s return address.

Two legislative assistants to Scott, Nkechi George-Winkler and Mohamed Abbamin, are scheduled to testify on Tuesday.

Le was allegedly angry that Bennett had denied the visa of his wife, who still lived in Vietnam.

“I am so sick, angry, hate … I want to do some thing [sic] … I readied enclosed letter from Charles Bennet [sic] I’m swear if I see that Motherf—er I’ll cut his head off,” he allegedly wrote in the letter, which was smeared with blood.

The letter, written in broken English, also referenced killing people and the mass shooting at Virginia Tech that left 33 people dead in 2007 and appeared to threaten another mass shooting.

“I have to proof it myself: I GOING TO SUISIDE people knowing me that ‘smart crazy’ I AM…! Haaaaaa!!! Some thing more beautiful than VA Tech years ago … But that young Hero didn’t tell any body why , what … ?? I can tell you now…,” he wrote.

Le later told an FBI agent that he bit his thumb and placed blood on the letter to show that it was “blood-signed,” according to the agent’s affidavit.

Le’s attorney will argue that he never intended to harm anyone because in the Vietnamese culture, certain terms are used as insults and do not indicate a threat of bodily harm of injury, according to a motion filed in the case.
Le was born in Vietnam and is a naturalized citizen who married his wife in that country during a visit in 2006.

{mosads}When Le asked Scott’s office for the reasons why his wife had been denied a visa, aides looked into the matter and received a letter from Bennett stating that the “interviewing officer had reason to believe that no bona fide relationship existed between Le” and the woman he said is his wife. Scott’s office forwarded the letter to Le.

According to court documents, Le works for the Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority. Le witnessed firsthand the violence and tragedy of the Vietnam War, according to his attorney. Two of his brothers were killed by bombing while another sister and brother died in different incidents. Le suffered head trauma from shrapnel.

During his late 20s, Le also was imprisoned by the Communist Party for four years for political reasons. After his release, he left Vietnam and spent seven years in a refugee camp in Malaysia, where he met his first wife and had two daughters before that marriage ended in divorce.