After disarming the gunman that killed 11 in Monterey Park’s Star Ballroom, Brandon Tsay has gained not only national fame, but also a high-profile new best friend: President Joe Biden.
Tsay began the year as an ordinary 26-year-old hailing from San Marino. But on Jan. 21, when he bravely wrestled a semi-automatic pistol from Huu Can Tran and prevented a second massacre from taking place at Lai Lai Ballroom in Alhambra, Tsay became an overnight hero.
This act of selfless courage earned Tsay an invite to D.C., where President Biden warmly welcomed him with a front row seat in First Lady Jill Biden’s viewing box for the State of the Union and thanked Tsay for his heroism during the address.
On Tuesday, March 14, Tsay returned the favor by greeting Biden on the tarmac at LAX as he headed to Tsay’s home of the San Gabriel Valley, where Biden delivered a speech on his new Executive Order aimed at curbing the gun violence epidemic.
During the speech, Biden took the time to describe and honor each of the eleven victims saying “they represent who we are as Americans, embodying the simple truth that our diversity is the strength of this nation.”
“We saw that strength in Brandon Tsay who met me at the airport and who Jill and I have gotten to know,” Biden continued. “Twenty minutes after the rampage at Star Ballroom, Brandon saw the same shooter walk into his family’s own dance studio. In an instant he found the courage to act and wrestle a semiautomatic firearm out of the way.”
President Biden then implored Tsay, who again had a front row seat, to stand up and enjoy the loud applause that echoed throughout the gymnasium of the Boys & Girls Club of the San Gabriel Valley in Monterey Park, where community members, politicians and gun control advocates gathered.
“Brandon saved lives, protected the community,” Biden concluded, adding that now is the time for Congress to do the same and take real action on gun control laws.
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