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Black Lives Matter billboard sparks controversy, death threats in Houston’s Vietnamese community
Local // Houston

Black Lives Matter billboard sparks controversy, death threats in Houston’s Vietnamese community

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State Rep. Gene Wu, left, joins others Saturday in support of a Black Lives Matter billboard at 11107 Bellaire Blvd.
1of9State Rep. Gene Wu, left, joins others Saturday in support of a Black Lives Matter billboard at 11107 Bellaire Blvd.Photo: Melissa Phillip, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer
Mary Courtney takes a video during a protest about a Black Lives Matter billboard in parking lot at 11107 Bellaire Blvd. Saturday, July 11, 2020, in Houston. The Vietnamese Community of Houston and Vicinity organization had scheduled a protest and forum at the site.
2of9Mary Courtney takes a video during a protest about a Black Lives Matter billboard in parking lot at 11107 Bellaire Blvd. Saturday, July 11, 2020, in Houston. The Vietnamese Community of Houston and Vicinity organization had scheduled a protest and forum at the site.Photo: Melissa Phillip, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer
Yeu Nguyen, a volunteer with Vietnamese Community of Houston and Vicinity, stands in parking lot at 11107 Bellaire Blvd. where they had planned a protest about a Black Lives Matter billboard Saturday, July 11, 2020, in Houston. The Vietnamese Community of Houston and Vicinity organization had scheduled a protest and forum at the site.
3of9Yeu Nguyen, a volunteer with Vietnamese Community of Houston and Vicinity, stands in parking lot at 11107 Bellaire Blvd. where they had planned a protest about a Black Lives Matter billboard Saturday, July 11, 2020, in Houston. The Vietnamese Community of Houston and Vicinity organization had scheduled a protest and forum at the site.Photo: Melissa Phillip, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer

Dozens gathered Saturday to discuss why a “Black Lives Matter” billboard in a parking lot in southwest Houston caused such strife in the local Vietnamese community that death threats were made against the man who bought the sign.

Insurance company owner Lê Hoàng Nguyên, who is Vietnamese American, paid for a billboard that read “Black Lives Matter” and “Stop Racism” in English and Vietnamese.

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Soon after the billboard went up, Nguyên said in a July 8 Facebook post that he had received messages from people within the Vietnamese community calling for his lynching and to boycott his business.

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