 The Double Seven Day scuffle was a physical altercation on July 7 ( 7 / 7 ) , 1963 , in Saigon , South Vietnam . The secret police of Ngô Đình Nhu — the brother of President Ngô Đình Diệm — attacked a group of journalists from the United States who were covering protests held by Buddhists on the ninth anniversary of Diệm 's rise to power . Peter Arnett of the Associated Press ( AP ) was punched on the nose , and the quarrel quickly ended after David Halberstam of The New York Times , being much taller than Nhu 's men , counterattacked and caused the secret police to retreat . Arnett and his colleague , the Pulitzer Prize @-@ winning journalist and photographer Malcolm Browne , were later accosted by police at their office and taken away for questioning on suspicion of attacking police officers . 
