Deena Ileto gripped the microphone as she stood in front of a crowd outside Irvine’s City Hall Saturday, where she recounted the story of her brother’s death to a group rallying against racism toward Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.

A postal worker who was delivering mail on his day off, her brother, Joseph Ileto, was fatally shot in Chatsworth in 1999 “because of the color of his skin,” Deena Ileto said. Seeing the group of about 200 gathered in solidarity with Asians who experience incidents of hate “is giving me hope, because we’re trying to create a safer environment for all of you,” she said to the crowd.

Rally goers clad in masks and holding signs reading “End Racism,” “Stand for Asians” and “People are Not a Virus” took to the lawn across from the reflective City Hall building. The Rally for Unity event was organized by Stand for Asians Solidarity, a group of community members seeking to “shine more light on the rise in anti-Asian racist attacks and violence on our elders,” the group said in a news release.

Some clapped to music booming through speakers before the rally began, at one point singing along to the chorus of “Where Is The Love?” by the Black Eyed Peas, led by emcee Jerick de Perio. He guided the crowd on a chant afterward, reciting “Stop Asian Hate.”

The rally was held in response to a surge regionally and beyond in reported hate crimes and other incidents targeting Asians during the pandemic.

An analysis of preliminary police data released March 2 by the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at Cal State San Bernardino indicated hate crimes against Asians increased 149% last year among the 16 largest cities in the nation.

In Los Angeles County, hate crime data released by police last week showed reported incidents against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders more than doubled from 2019 to 2020, from seven to 15. The group Stop AAPI Hate, which tracks anti-Asian hate incidents linked to the coronavirus pandemic, also reported 245 incidents against Asians occurred between March 19 and Oct. 28 in the county, the majority of which involved verbal harassment, the group said.

At the rally Saturday, U.S. Rep. Katie Porter said hate crimes targeting Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders have also increased in Orange County.

Advocates have linked the increase to language used during the coronavirus pandemic that ties it to China.

Deena Ileto was met with cheers by the crowd when she declared “we are not a virus.”

Susan and TJ Pham, who live in Irvine, spread out two UCLA Bruins lawn chairs for themselves on the grass. Their three children – twins age 10 and another son age 8 – donned superhero masks as they sat in their smaller chairs of the same theme. Susan Pham said she wanted to bring her kids to the rally to “encourage them to have a voice, and also to listen.”

“Asians historically are noticed to be stereotypically silent,” Susan Pham said. “And so, I just want to make sure that my kids understand that it’s not OK to be silent. By being silent, you’re actually saying something.”

Porter said she has co-sponsored a bill calling for law enforcement to work to improve reporting of hate crimes and threats against Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders, and thoroughly investigate all reports.

The community, she said, “is just starting to heal from this pandemic,” as vaccines become more widely available, but “we will not heal if racism and hatred continue to exist in our community.”

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