Minister Disrupts Memorial for Street Violence Victims : Forum: Sponsors turn off microphone after he discusses Fuhrman and Farrakhan. He then jumps into Mayor Riordan’s car.

A memorial service meant to honor victims of street violence turned bitter and a trifle bizarre Sunday when a controversial minister used his invocation as a polemic about Mark Fuhrman and Louis Farrakhan, then forced himself into Mayor Richard Riordan’s car after his microphone was shut off.

The tirade by Steve Gooden, who identifies himself as the president and founder of the No Compromise Ministry of Orange County, infuriated the relatives of murder victims who had come to Pershing Square with portraits of their dead loved ones and expectations that the so-called Day of Remembrance would be just that, with religious and political leaders acknowledging their pain and calling for reforms.

Instead, as officials from the sponsoring organization, the YWCA of Greater Los Angeles, looked on aghast, Gooden--who took the podium midway through the program--unfurled a banner saying “Love Mark Fuhrman, To Help End Racism.” He pleaded with African Americans in the sparse crowd to forgive the former police detective whose racial invective rocked the O.J. Simpson trial.

Gooden had earlier displayed the same banner from the Watts Towers and at an Orange County shopping mall.

Gooden pleaded with whites, especially Jews, to reserve any harsh judgment of Farrakhan, in hopes that the Nation of Islam leader, who organized today’s “Million Man March” in Washington, would use the occasion to renounce some of his earlier anti-white and anti-Semitic remarks.

Gooden’s remarks were cut short when a YWCA official literally pulled the plug, shutting off his microphone. Gooden was hurried off the podium.

As he was speaking, relatives of slain men, women and children being commemorated reacted with tears and anger, many of them marching toward the stage to remove portraits of their loved ones on display.

Gooden should have kept to the other speakers’ agenda, relatives said, memorializing the dead or calling for legislation or other assistance for those seeking swift prosecution, government services and solace in the wake of violent tragedy.

“It was offensive and outrageous,” said Jackie Ravel-Knezevich, whose mother was murdered 2 1/2 years ago by Ravel-Knezevich’s brother. At her side, also clutching reclaimed photographs to their chests and swallowing tears, were Harold Young, whose son, a law student and father of a newborn, was murdered during a burglary four years ago, and June Weitzberg, whose husband was shot in their Beverly Hills garage in 1992 by a robber who stole his watch.

“We profoundly apologize,” they were told by Suzanne Lewis, coordinator of the YWCA’s Week Without Violence. “He clearly had his own agenda.”

Similarly offended by Gooden’s words was Mayor Richard Riordan, who had preceded him to the podium and spoken about the nation’s epidemic of violence. When YWCA officials tried to evict Gooden from Pershing Square, Gooden followed the mayor off the premises and jumped into Riordan’s red Ford Explorer.

In a statement later Sunday, the mayor said, “We gathered to promote healing, understanding and peace among our residents. Unfortunately, one man sought to use this forum to exploit victims and drive a wedge between Angelenos who would rather work together to bring about the change that is needed in our city. His actions were inappropriate and not in keeping with the spirit of today’s gathering.”

Gooden, who says he came to Southern California eight years ago from Virginia to join the televangelist industry, gained attention at the 1992 Republican presidential convention when he performed Christian rap songs in counterpoint to performers such as Ice-T and Snoop Doggy Dogg.

More recently, Gooden, who ministers to youth in Orange County, was a spokesman for the family of Stephanie Kuhen, the toddler who was slain last month when her family made a wrong turn into a gang-infested alley in Cypress Park. Gooden spoke at the 3-year-old’s funeral, pleading with Americans of all races to “stand up and get mad.”