WESTMINSTER

Truong Van Tran, the Little Saigon merchant who sparked protests by displaying Vietnamese Communist symbols in his store, pleaded not guilty Wednesday to video piracy charges resulting from a police raid on his business. Police on March 5 seized more than 15,000 allegedly pirated videos and 146 VCRs from Tran’s Bolsa Avenue video store, where thousands of local Vietnamese had protested for 53 days because he displayed a picture of Ho Chi Minh and a Vietnamese Communist flag. Tran is scheduled to next appear in court June 18.