State of the Union: How Brandon Tsay is shouldering the spotlight

Brandon Tsay receives an award during a Lunar New Year celebration in Alhambra, California

Brandon Tsay was at home, getting ready to have lunch, when he got a call from the White House.

Would he be free to speak with the President of the United States?

"I said something along the lines of: "No we're about to eat". And then I was like: Oh wait, it's the president!" the 26-year-old told the BBC. "My brain kind of short-circuited there."

The president had good reason to call. Mr Tsay has received praise from his community and the press for disarming a gunman who tore through a Lunar New Year celebration on 21 January, killing 11 people at a Monterey Park, California dance hall and injuring several others.

Mr Tsay's split-second decision elevated the quiet coder to a national hero.

From the other end of the line, Joe Biden thanked Mr Tsay for "taking such incredible action in the face of danger". Then, he invited Mr Tsay to Washington DC.

• Who is on the guest list at the State of the Union?

• What we know about the Monterey Park victims

On Tuesday, Mr Tsay attended President Joe Biden's State of the Union address as a guest of First Lady Jill Biden.

Held each year before the entire US Congress, the speech is mostly political pomp meant to tout a president's agenda.

But the event can achieve moments of genuine emotion, thanks to the guests that the president invites. They put a human face to abstract policy proposals, their personal stories hopefully inspiring lawmakers to act on issues like healthcare, gun safety, and education. On Tuesday, Mr Biden spotlighted Mr Tsay's story.

"Two weeks ago, during Lunar New Year celebrations, he heard the studio's front door close and saw a man pointing a gun at him," the president continued. "He thought he was going to die, but then he thought about the people inside."

"He saved lives," Mr Biden said, as Congress gave Mr Tsay a standing ovation. "It's time we do the same as well." Mr Biden then called for stricter gun safety legislation.

Mr Tsay earlier told the BBC he wanted his presence to send a positive message to his community, Monterey Park, which is majority Asian-American.

"I want the [Asian American and Pacific Islander] community to be hopeful, and I think by sending me to the State of the Union that could draw some attention to the people in our community," Mr Tsay said.

And, he added, "a lot of people back home told me I should wave at the camera for them."

A life turned upside-down

The State of the Union appearance was the culmination of two surreal and disorienting weeks for Mr Tsay, in which he went from an anonymous young man who took tickets at his family dance studio to a national figure.

"I'm still the same person, I'm still Brandon," he insists. But the world around him has changed.

He is also, he admits, exhausted.

Mr Tsay has told the story of how he stopped the Monterey Park gunman over, and over, and over, to the New York Times and Good Morning America and CNN and many outlets in between.

After firing into the Star Ballroom Dance Studio in Monterey Park, 72-year-old suspect Huu Can Tran went to Lai Lai Ballroom in nearby Alhambra, which was owned by the Tsay family.

Mr Tsay was the first person to encounter the gunman when he came through the door, and made the quick decision to disarm him. Security camera footage later showed a prolonged struggle for the weapon before Mr Tsay took control. Authorities credited him for preventing a second massacre.

In the days following the shooting, family members stepped in to arrange interviews and manage the avalanche of media requests for Mr Tsay.

During the frenzy, he did not even have time to talk to his family about what had happened to him, he said. They insisted he rest, and he took a break from interviews.

But he could not evade the spotlight for long. The city of Alhambra honoured him in a special Lunar New Year ceremony last week.

"The carnage would have been so much worse had it not been for Brandon Tsay," Representative Judy Chu, the congresswoman representing Monterey Park, told the crowd.

The governor of California showed up at his house and sat on his couch. Then he got the call from the president.

Next thing he knew, he and his father were on a plane to Washington, where he spent Monday touring the monuments. By Tuesday night, he was sitting next to Bono, the U2 frontman, and the first lady of the United States.

A supporter cheers at a Lunar New Year celebration where Brandon Tsay was honoured.

Mr Tsay is trying to put his newfound attention towards a greater purpose.

"I feel closer to the community, as a person would," he said.

"I feel like our family now is a more integral part of our society, and our Asian community around Monterey Park. We feel like we're more bonded, now."

After well-wishers tried to send him financial support, he partnered with the Asian Pacific Community Fund to raise money in his name to give back to the community.

He donated an initial $2,500 (£2,000) to the Brandon Tsay Hero Fund, using money his family received after the shooting, with hopes to grow that amount many times over.

"I feel like people have been calling me a hero, and I think that there's a hero in all of us," Mr Tsay said.

"I hope to show that there is this bravery and courage that you might not even know exists, but it's there inside."