Court awards $156K in assault case linked to bizarre protest in B.C. cul-de-sac

Surveillance video shows human rights activist Louis Huang being attacked outside a journalist's home in a Surrey, B.C. cul-de-sac on Nov. 25, 2020. (TheBreaker.news)

More than five years after an unusual protest outside the home of a Chinese journalist in Surrey turned violent, the B.C. Supreme Court has awarded more than $156,000 in damages.

On Nov. 25, 2020, Ning Yu Louis Huang was called to his friend Bing Chen Benson Gao’s home on a Surrey cul-de-sac, where a group of protesters had been gathering for the last several days, according to Justice Scott Morishita’s decision.

Gao had asked Huang to accompany him to the police station to file a complaint about the protesters. While he was there to meet his friend, Huang was confronted, attacked and beaten by two of the protesters: Shiliang Yin and Mu Bai.

The assault was caught on video, and Yin and Bai each pleaded guilty to assault causing bodily harm. Yin received a seven-month conditional sentence with 12 months of probation and Bai received a conditional discharge and 12 months of probation, according to Morishita’s decision.

• Read more: Video shows activist beaten, kicked amid unusual protest outside B.C. journalist’s home

Separate from the criminal proceedings, Huang filed a civil lawsuit against Yin and Bai, seeking damages for assault and battery. Morishita’s decision, issued last week, addresses Huang’s claim.

The decision describes the protesters as “affiliated with or supportive of” an “organization founded by Chinese nationals living outside China” that Gao had covered critically in his reporting.

“Some evidence was presented during the trial regarding the political views of the parties and Mr. Gao,” the decision reads. “The respective political views of the parties and Mr. Gao are not relevant to any of the issues in dispute in this lawsuit.”

At the time of the assault, CTV News reported that the protesters had leafletted homes claiming to be part of the New Federal State of China, a group founded by former Donald Trump advisor Steve Bannon and Chinese tycoon Miles Guo, who was living in exile in New York.

Both Gao and the protesters presented themselves as critics of the Chinese Communist Party and accused the other side of secretly working with the CCP.

Miles Guo has since been found guilty of fraud and money laundering offences in the U.S.

• Read more: After beating, Chinese journalist targeted in Surrey protest wants action from city and police

According to Morishita’s decision, the question of whether Yin and Bai were liable for civil assault and battery of Huang was answered by their guilty pleas in the criminal case.

The judge further concluded that Huang did not provoke the defendants, nor was he contributorily negligent to the injuries he suffered.

“The defendants set the incident in motion by asking the plaintiff to come speak with them on the roadway,” the decision reads.

“After being sucker-punched by Mr. Yin, the plaintiff immediately backed away from the defendants, who both continued to advance on him. The plaintiff turned and continued walking away from the defendants, at which point they brought him to the ground. I find that the plaintiff did not, in any way, cause or contribute to his injuries.”

Having concluded that the defendants were liable, Morishita considered Huang’s claimed damages.

The plaintiff sought nearly $300,000 in total, but his final award was roughly half that much.

The judge awarded him $100,000 in non-pecuniary damages, rather than the $150,000 he sought.

Morishita also declined to award the amounts Huang sought for past loss of income and cost of future care—a total of $84,000.

The judge awarded $45,182.18 for Huang’s loss of future income earning capacity, slightly less than the $50,000 the plaintiff sought.

Huang did receive his requested $10,000 in aggravated damages, plus another $528.60 in dental and optometry expenses and $860.13 in health-care costs under the Health Care Costs Recovery Act.

In all, Morishita ordered Yin and Bai to pay Huang $156,570.91, and found the defendants “jointly and severally” liable for that amount.