The Diệm government dismissed charges of misconduct. Later, however, the South Vietnamese military junta tried and Đặng and sentenced him to death in 1964 for charges including shooting into an unarmed crowd, having armored vehicles ran over protesters, and using dangerous, high explosives for crowd control. Đặng, primarily on his own, maintained his and his men's innocence. When the military tribunal pronounced sentence, thousands lined the streets in protest, prompting some international observers to speculate that an internal civil war was about to erupt. Facing internal unrest and U.S. government disapproval, Khánh commuted Đặng's death sentence to life with hard labour at Côn Sơn with payments to victims' families.