Students hold candlelight vigil for Ly, a graduate killed in 1996 hate crime
By Daily Bruin Staff
Feb. 1, 2001 9:00 p.m.
 MIKE CHIEN James Ngo takes time to think
after a moment of silence for UCLA alumnus Thien Minh Ly.
By Payam Mahram
Daily Bruin Contributor
About 30 students lit up Royce Quad on Wednesday night with a
candlelight vigil commemorating the death of UCLA graduate Thien
Minh Ly, who died victim to a hate crime five years ago. The
Vietnamese Student Union’s vigil ended a night of remembrance
that began in Knudsen Hall, where students listened to speakers and
watched a documentary video about Ly.
“Even if we do just a little something, at least it will
be something instead of nothing,” said VSU Advocacy-Political
Chair Quyen Luu in her introductory speech.
Ly was the 1992-93 chair of what was then known as the
Vietnamese Student Association, now called VSU. The first in his
family to attend college, he graduated from UCLA with a degree in
English and biology in 1994. He was considering law school before
his death.
On Jan. 28, 1996, Ly was rollerblading at Tustin High School in
Orange County when he was confronted by George J. Lindberg and an
accomplice.
Lindberg, a white supremacist, attacked and stabbed Ly with a
knife about 50 times. It wasn’t until a letter Lindberg had
written to a friend in New Mexico describing the killing was found
that police arrested him and his accomplice.
“Oh, I killed a Jap a while ago … I stabbed him in the
side about seven or eight times … I stabbed him about 20 to 21
times in the heart,” Lindberg wrote in the letter.
Lindberg was found guilty and sentenced to death. His accomplice
received a life sentence. According to VSU Co-President Giang
Nguyen and Internal Vice President Andrian Nguyen, Wednesday
night’s commemoration was held to honor Ly and to educate
people about the prevalence of hate crimes.
“Understanding that our own community faces hate crimes is
the first step that many of us must take before we can help make
the world around us a tolerant one,” Giang said.
“It is important to realize that you don’t even have
to be a minority to become a victim,” she continued.
“Remember these crimes are not derived from
reason.”
Participants watched a documentary titled “Letters to
Thien,” which portrayed details of Ly’s life, death,
and family and friends. Speakers in the documentary read letters
they had written to Ly after his death.
“Life is hell without you,” said Ly’s weeping
mother in the film.
According to VSU members, Ly’s family, who normally
attends the commemoration, chose not to attend this year because it
would invoke
too many painful memories.
Following the video, the teary-eyed audience heard speeches by
Giang and Elias Enciso, internal vice president of the
Undergraduate Students Association Council. Enciso, who spoke on
behalf of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Campus Resource
Center, focused on hate crimes against the LGBT community.
“It is still politically correct to hate gays,”
Enciso said. “That’s one reason why there still are so
many hate crimes against gays.”
Following the video and speeches, participants lit candles and
walked from Knudsen to Royce Quad for a speech by Evan Okamura,
external vice president of USAC.
“It is commemorations like these that give me hope and
give me faith that our community, the Asian Pacific American
community, will pull through,” Okamura said.
“Though Thien is no longer with us in this world, his
murder has inspired and taught us that hate crimes are definitely
not isolated incidents, and they will continue to plague and tear
us down until we take a united stand, as we are doing
tonight,” he said.
The evening ended with a minute of silence as participants stood
in the chilly night with lit candles.
