Will Grigg?s Liberty Minute

February 14 2012

When a large contingent of heavily armed riot police arrived at the small home near Hai Phong Vietnam on January 5, they expected little resistance. Their orders were to evict the family of 49-year-old Peter Doan Van Vuon and seize the property.

Vuon wasn?t home, and his wife Ngyuen had just returned from dropping off the kids at school, when the assault began.  Rather than submitting meekly to the invaders, the family fought back, using improvised pellet guns and land mines. Nobody was killed or seriously injured, but the officers were forced to retreat.

Vuon purchased the small plot of swampland in 1993, and invested his life savings into reclaiming it and building a fish farm. His business had just started to show a profit in 2009 when the regional government announced its intention to confiscate it. After Vuon and a neighbor filed a lawsuit against the seizure, the court ? as a ruse ? promised to let them keep the land if they withdrew their suit. The confiscation proceedings continued, leading to the January 5 firefight and Vuon?s arrest.

Although charged with serious crimes, Peter Vuon has become a folk hero in Vietnam ? as he should be to everyone who understands and cherishes property rights.

Let us take back the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free.