JOINED AGAINST HATE CRIMES FAMILIES OF VICTIMS SPEAK OUT ABOUT GUN VIOLENCE.

Byline: Phillip W. Browne Staff Writer

CHATSWORTH - Five years after white supremacist Buford O. Furrow Jr. wounded five people at the North Valley Jewish Community Center, then brutally murdered mail carrier Joseph S. Ileto, the victims' families and local officials joined Tuesday in calling for stricter gun control and hate crime legislation.

``We miss him very much ... and we cannot understand why someone would take the life of my brother. He was just doing his job when he was killed,'' said Ismael Ileto, whose brother was delivering mail in Chatsworth when Furrow shot him nine times.

Ileto said that following his brother's murder, the family received death threats and hate mail, and the FBI recommended they move. The situation fueled the family's resolve to champion gun control and hate crime legislation.

``As a Filipino family, we never thought it could happen to us because as Americans we always think we're doing the right things. After my brother was killed, it showed us we are still viewed as a minority.''

Along with 16 members of the Ileto family, the families of Jewish Community Center victims Joshua Stepakoff and Mindy Finkelstein attended the remembrance at the Chatsworth Post Office. Later Tuesday, an interfaith prayer service was held at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels.

In 1999, Furrow drove to the San Fernando Valley from Washington, heavily armed with automatic weapons. Proclaiming that he wanted to send a ``wake up call to America to kill Jews,'' Furrow fired more than 70 rounds into the JCC's day care center in Granada Hills, wounding three children, a teenage counselor and an office worker, before gunning down Ileto on a Chatsworth street.

Furrow was convicted in 2001 of murdering a federal employee and sentenced to life in prison without parole.

Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Sherman Oaks, said he has been sponsoring a bill for the past six years that would increase penalties for anyone convicted of a hate crime, but it has stalled in negotiations.

``When a hate crime occurs, it sends ripples of fear across the nation among the group that was targeted, and that needs federal punishment,'' Sherman said.

Donna Finkelstein, Mindy's mother, said the amount of gun violence in the nation is staggering.

``In the past five years, nearly 500,000 Americans have been killed or injured by guns. This number is totally unacceptable,'' she said.

Los Angeles Mayor James Hahn applauded the families for turning their tragedies into action.

``One man's hatred killed Joseph and injured five others,'' Hahn said. ``These families are standing against hatred, and I want to stand with them. The city of Los Angeles wants to stand with them.''

Phillip W. Browne, [phone]

phillip.browne(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo:

(1) Ismael Ileto, brother of murdered mail carrier Joseph Ileto, speaks at a news conference observing the fifth anniversary of the shooting rampage that took Joseph's life and wounded five others at the Jewish Community Center.

(2) Lilian Ileto, mother of murdered Joseph Ileto, is embraced by Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Sherman Oaks, as he gives her family a U.S. flag that was flown over the Capitol building. Ileto was gunned down by a white supremacist five years ago after the man targeted children at the Jewish Community Center's day care center. He is in prison.

Evan Yee/Staff Photographer