[Tlc] L-Hmong leader killed

[justinm at ucr.edu]

FYI.
Thanks,
justin

2007-1221 - The Record - Stockton Hmong leader slain

http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071221/A_NEWS/712210324

News
Stockton Hmong leader slain
Pheng Lo was shot outside his office as he was leaving work
Wednesday evening

By Jennifer Torres
December 21, 2007
Record Staff Writer

STOCKTON - A longtime leader and respected advocate for
Southeast Asian refugees was killed early Wednesday evening,
shot in the head outside his north Stockton office as he was
leaving work.

Pheng Lo, 59, came to the United States as a refugee himself.

He moved to Stockton in the 1980s and for more than 20 years
had led the Lao Family Community organization, which offers
help with health, education and other social services.

According to a report from the Stockton Police Department,
officers were called around 5:30 p.m. Wednesday to 2701 E.
Hammer Lane, where Lao Family Community offices are located.

The department reported early Thursday that Lo was found with
a gunshot wound to the head, but on Thursday afternoon, Pete
Smith, a Stockton police spokesman, would not confirm the
location of the gunshot wound.

Lo was taken to St. Joseph's Medical Center, where he died,
police said.

Friends and colleagues said news of his violent death
devastated and baffled them.

"He's been one of my best friends since 1986," said Sovanna
Koeurt, who leads the Asian Pacific Self-Development and
Residential Association, or APSARA. "He's very, very active.
He advocates for the Hmong and Asian community. ... I'm
shocked. We lost a great leader."

During the Vietnam War, Laotian Hmong, an ethnic minority
group, were recruited by the CIA to fight communist forces as
secret allies of the United States.

In 1975, after the war ended, communists took over Laos,
sending thousands of Hmong fleeing to Thailand. More than
130,000 eventually were resettled in the United States,
including about 8,000 in Stockton.

Lo worked to ease their transition into a new country and
culture. At the same time, he encouraged Hmong youth to
maintain the traditions of their families.

He and his wife, Doualy Ly, bought their first home in
Stockton in 1989.

He worked to provide English classes and job training to
recently arrived refugees and helped coordinate Stockton's
Hmong New Year celebration.

"By doing this, we hope to maintain the culture and the
traditions," Lo said several years ago about the annual event.
"Otherwise, down the road, people will not recognize their
culture or even the language."

The last time Kunthea Tuy, who also works at APSARA, spoke
with Lo was about a week ago. He told her he was trying to
find a way to send students to Laos to learn about their
parents' homeland.

Mario Supnet of the Charterhouse Center for Families said he
knew Lo through his service to the Stockton area.

"We all collaborate together," Supnet said. "The nonprofit
world is such a close-knit community."

Koeurt said, "He had a big heart. He also was a hardworking
person. He's a person who would not want to see people be
oppressed. He wanted them to better their lives. He wanted to
help the unfortunate people."

Stockton City Councilman Dan Chapman said he also knew Lo best
through his service work.

"I think it's just tragic that someone who tries to do so much
good for his community would die so tragically," he said. "It
really is disappointing and hurtful."

Chapman said he is considering organizing community forums to
discuss ways of curbing violence in Stockton.

"I just think that we, as a community, need to unite, even if
it's in a grass-roots type of method, ... to talk about ways
to combat what's going on in our community," Chapman said.

Mai Xiong, chairman of Lao Family Community's board of
directors, said Thursday evening that he would be meeting with
Lo's family to discuss funeral arrangements.

The Stockton Police Department has asked anyone with
information on Lo's slaying to call (209) 937-8377.

Contact reporter Jennifer Torres at (209) 546-8252 or
jtorres at recordnet.com.

______________
Dr. Justin McDaniel
Dept. of Religious Studies
2617 Humanities Building
University of California, Riverside
Riverside, CA 92521
951-827-4530
justinm at ucr.edu