 Later on during the day of the altercation , the police collected Browne and Arnett from the AP bureau in Saigon and took the pair to what they described as a " safe house " . The police interrogators said that they would be arrested but were unspecific about the charges . One charge was that of assaulting two police officers , but the interrogators hinted that more serious offences such as organising illegal demonstrations were being considered . The officers conversed among themselves in French , a language which the reporters did not speak , but Arnett thought that they mentioned the word espionage . After four hours of questioning , the pair were charged with assault . Browne and Arnett in turn filed charges against the police over the altercation , and demanded compensation for the damage to their photographic equipment . Arnett and Browne were temporarily released in the evening , after which the whole Saigon press corps stormed the US embassy . 
