Unity Focus of Rally to Mark Shootings

A “Unity Over Hate” rally at Pierce College on Sunday will conclude a week of commemorative activities marking last year’s Valley shootings at a Jewish day camp and murder of a postal worker.

The rally “is an opportunity for our community to show the country that we are united in our commitment to eradicate hate crimes and have the will to do so, through enacting legislation and embracing diversity,” said U.S. Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Sherman Oaks), one of the event sponsors.

The shootings, which received worldwide media attention, began when Buford O. Furrow Jr. allegedly walked into the North Valley Jewish Community Center in Granada Hills on Aug. 10, 1999, and shot and wounded five people, including three youngsters attending a summer day camp. Later, he allegedly shot and killed letter carrier Joseph Ileto, who was on his rounds in Chatsworth.

The families of Ileto and of the injured children will attend Sunday’s rally. Officials who will join them include state Atty. Gen. Bill Lockyer, Los Angeles Police Chief Bernard Parks, City Council members Laura Chick and Mike Feuer, and Dist. Atty. Gil Garcetti.

Garcetti said the prevention of hate crimes “must be one of our top priorities for the new millennium.

“It is critical that both the private and public sectors of the community come together to stem the growing tide of violence motivated by hate,” he said.

Other sponsors include the San Fernando Valley Hate Crimes Alliance, Cal State Northridge, the Million Mom March and the Anti-Defamation League.

Tamar Galatzan, western states associate counsel for the Anti-Defamation League, which has an office in Canoga Park, said Sunday’s rally is to remember what happened and “show the community how far we’ve come since last summer.”

“It was, of course, shocking--the fact that someone from out of state allegedly traveled to the heart of the San Fernando Valley and committed these horrible acts,” said Galatzan, who grew up in the Valley and attended Birmingham High School in Van Nuys.

“But the whole thing is, no matter where it occurred, it was a shocking act. No one anywhere thought this could happen.”

The Rev. Zedar Broadous, president of the San Fernando Valley branch of the NAACP and a member of the L.A. County Human Relations Commission, said he expects to remind those attending that “Evil will always exist, but it will only exist in its strongest points when good people do nothing.”

Broadous stressed “continual and consistent education” when dealing with hate crimes.

“It’s like the old axiom, ‘Fire can’t burn without fuel,’ ” he said. “The more we engage our community in proactive things, the more we are able to deter people who are near that fringe kind of level.”

Performing at Sunday’s rally will be the International Children’s Choir of Long Beach, whose creation was inspired by the song, “Let There Be Peace on Earth.”

The rally will begin at 10:30 a.m. in Swisher Park, just inside the Mason Avenue-Victory Boulevard entrance to Pierce College.