President Biden calls Brandon Tsay, ‘hero’ who disarmed Monterey Park gunman
President Joe Biden on Thursday, Jan. 26, called and spoke to Brandon Tsay, the 26-year-old San Marino man declared a hero for disarming the Monterey Park dance hall gunman after he entered Tsay’s family business in Alhambra, preventing further harm.
Excerpts of the call include:
Biden: “I wanted to call and thank you and to see how you’re doing, and thank you for taking such incredible action in the face of danger.”
Tsay: “I’m still processing, you know, what I did and what I experienced. And for you to call, that’s just so comforting for me.”
Biden: “You are America, pal. You are who we are.”
Tsay: “Thank you.”
Biden: “No, no. You are who we are. America has never backed down. We’ve always stepped up because of people like you.”
A 26-year-old hero by the name of Brandon Tsay is responsible for disarming a gunman in Monterey Park, California – an act of incredible courage in the face of danger.
I called him to offer him my – and America’s – profound thanks and respect. pic.twitter.com/czWBDp3OUT
— President Biden (@POTUS) January 26, 2023
Biden spoke by phone to Tsay, 26, of San Marino, from the White House.
It comes only days after Tsay, whose family operates Lai Lai Ballroom & Studio, grabbed a gun from Huu Can Tran, 72, of Hemet, who just minutes earlier had opened fire inside the Star Ballroom Dance Studio in neighboring Monterey Park, where 11 people were killed.
Tran would have likely killed others, authorities said, if not for the actions of Tsay.
That reality is why Gov. Gavin Newsom met with Tsay earlier in the week and why on Sunday he will be honored at the Alhambra Lunar New Year Festival.
