Comedian Tou Ger Xiong, an advocate and political campaigner within the Twin Cities Hmong community, will be remembered on Saturday with a candlelight vigil organized by his brother Eh Xiong at a high school near his Woodbury home.

Tou Ger Xiong, 50, a founder of the Hmong Minnesota Day at the Minnesota State Fair, was found murdered this month in Medellin, Colombia, where he had been staying with friends. Colombian media reported that he had gone on Dec. 10 to meet a woman he met through social media when he was kidnapped by multiple men and held for $2,000 ransom.

Tou Ger Xiong (Courtesy of the Bush Foundation)

The money was never collected and his body was later discovered in a ravine with multiple stab wounds, leading to speculation he was killed trying to escape. A woman has been arrested by Colombian authorities in connection with the case, according to news reports.

Tou Ger Xiong was a recipient of the prestigious Bush Fellowship in 2019.

He was a storyteller, performer, motivational speaker and emcee. He hosted an online broadcast, “The Tou Ger Xiong Show,” and often reflected on his own experience as a refugee growing up in the St. Paul Public Housing Authority’s low-income Dunedin Hi-Rise. He was a 1996 graduate of Carleton College in Northfield.

The candlelight vigil will be held from 4 to 8 p.m. Saturday inside East Ridge High School, 4200 Pioneer Drive in Woodbury.

Along with a structured program, there will be an open mic for community members to share their memories. Light refreshments will be provided.

The Asian Economic Development Association is also collecting donations for the Tou Ger Xiong Endowment Fund, which is being organized by his family.

More information is online at gohmongboy.com, a website named after one of his comedic stage personas.

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