Group’s Role in Boycott of L.A. Store Hit : Human relations: A county official warns that the head of the nonprofit Brotherhood Crusade may be increasing tensions among blacks and Korean-Americans.

The involvement of the nonprofit Brotherhood Crusade in the boycott of a store in South-Central Los Angeles has drawn criticism from a county official who warns that the organization’s leader may be increasing tension and divisiveness.

Mimi Lopez Baffo, president of the county Commission on Human Relations, said the county “appears to be working against itself in supporting both the reduction of the tension and the Brotherhood Crusade.” She said the organization’s president, Danny Bakewell, “appears to be increasing tension.”

In an Aug. 19 letter to Supervisor Mike Antonovich, Lopez Baffo suggested that Bakewell’s comments left the county in a “troubling position” because county employees contribute to the Brotherhood Crusade through payroll deductions authorized by the Board of Supervisors.

The Brotherhood Crusade has joined various community groups in conducting the boycott, which is in its 87th day.

In speeches and at news conferences, Bakewell has repeatedly vowed that the campaign will continue until police reopen an investigation into the fatal shooting of Arthur Lee Mitchell, a black customer, by store owner Tae Sam Park. Police have ruled the shooting justifiable.

On Tuesday, Bakewell dismissed Lopez Baffo’s complaint and said the boycott will continue and, in addition, expand to a year-round effort that would target any business that shows “disrespect to consumers in African-American neighborhoods.”

Bakewell discounted criticism that the boycott is racially motivated or divisive, contending that it is a “constructive channel for the rage” among some blacks over the June killing and the earlier shooting death of a black teen-ager by another Korean merchant.

“How can it be a problem to advocate for a community that has been for so long victimized?” Bakewell asked. “Somebody ought to be giving us a medal for keeping this community from exploding.”

Bakewell noted that five years ago, Lopez Baffo’s commission created a forum to improve relations between Korean merchants and their customers in South-Central Los Angeles.

“That dialogue has been going on for years and the problem has gotten worse,” Bakewell said.

Lopez Baffo’s letter prompted an inquiry by the county’s chief executive officer, who in a confidential report presented to the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday said he is monitoring Bakewell’s involvement in the boycott.

“While the county should rightly discourage and refuse to condone counterproductive activities which sow discord and divisiveness,” Richard B. Dixon said in the memo obtained by The Times, “we must be careful to refrain from taking harsh and punitive actions based solely upon our dislike for certain expressed views or aims.”

Dixon noted that it is up to the Internal Revenue Service--not the county--to determine whether the Brotherhood Crusade is violating rules that govern its tax-exempt status.

Bakewell said he has done nothing to jeopardize his organization’s tax status.

“We are prohibited from contributing to (political) campaigns, but not from advocating on behalf of the community and that is what we are doing,” he said. “We don’t apologize for that.”

Bakewell’s leadership among the boycotters was evident Tuesday morning outside Chung’s Liquor Market in the 7900 block of Western Avenue, which has been virtually devoid of customers throughout the boycott.

As Park and his wife stood inside the open, but otherwise empty, store, about 100 people outside cheered and shouted “Danny! Danny!” when Bakewell arrived for a news conference.

He told reporters that the boycott leaders will meet Saturday with neighborhood residents to begin formation of a coalition of 30 churches and other organizations called the African American Honor Committee.

The purpose of the committee, he said, will be to “establish a lethal force to invoke economic paralysis on any business that chooses to operate with disrespect and disregard for African-Americans in the community in which we live.” Each organization would commit itself to providing pickets for a specified number of days each year whenever the need arose, he said. “The (boycott) is inclusive of all races that refuse to recognize their obligation to those whom they profit from,” said Bakewell, adding later that African-American merchants could also be targeted.

“The issue of racism was not raised within this movement, but rather from certain segments of the Korean community who for reasons only they can reveal cannot understand our commitment to tolerate indignity any longer.”

He added, however, that since Koreans “in this country and around the world” are raising money to keep Park’s store afloat, the boycotters have begun looking at all possible “bargaining chips” to sustain their campaign, including possible action against companies that do business in this country but are based in South Korea.