 The indignant reporters stridently accused the Diệm regime of causing the altercation , whereas the police claimed that the journalists threw the first punch . Embassy official John Mecklin noted that even Diem 's media officials were privately skeptical about the veracity of the testimony of Nhu 's men . In a heated meeting at the embassy , the press corps demanded that William Trueheart , the acting US Ambassador to South Vietnam in the absence of the vacationing Frederick Nolting , deliver a formal protest to Diệm on behalf of the American government . Trueheart angered them by refusing to do so and blaming both sides for the confrontation . In his report to Washington , Trueheart asserted that the uniformed policemen had tacitly helped their <unk> counterparts , but he also had " no doubt that [ the ] reporters , at least once [ the ] fracas had started , acted in [ a ] belligerent manner towards [ the ] police " . Trueheart contended that since the journalists had a long history of bad blood with the Diem regime , their word could not be taken over that of the Vietnamese police . 
