Thousands Rally for Former NY Cop Convicted in Stairwell Shooting

Protesters attend a rally Saturday, Feb. 20, 2016 in the Brooklyn borough of NY in support of a former NYPD police officer Peter Liang, who was convicted of manslaughter for the 2014 shooting death of Akai Gurley, in a housing project stairwell.

Liu continued: “So in an incident where an Asian-American officer shoots his gun, not aiming at anybody, shoots it by accident, we were all shocked last Thursday, when the guilty verdict came out”.

The newspaper points out that Liang and his partner were in a dark stairwell of a notorious housing project in Brooklyn and unaware that Gurley, an unarmed African American, was on the stairs.

Content Preview This content is exclusive for Optimum, Time Warner, Comcast, customers with access to News 12. “We hope that there is an understanding that the physical environment Officer Liang was thrust into, the insufficient training provided by the NYPD, and the absence of supervision by senior officers also contributed to Mr. Gurley’s death”.

Scores of speakers from local political offices and the Chinese community reiterated the same themes: that there is a history of racism towards Asian Americans; that Liang was scapegoated in the current climate of “anti-police sentiment”; and that Asian Americans will continue to suffer abuses unless they make their presence felt, including by voting.

Some say he has been treated unfairly because he is Asian-American. Cars drove slowly down the surrounding streets, horns honking as supporters held signs out of the windows. He faces a sentence of up to 15 years.

Liang, who was sacked immediately after the verdict, maintains the shooting was an accident.

But Kimberly Ortiz, 31, of the Bronx, said it’s “unbelievable” that anyone would rally for Liang.

After a series of speeches by community leaders, a representative of Ro Khanna, who had announced his bid to run for a seat at the US Congress in this election year, said on behalf of the Indian-American candidate that the ethnic India community in the Bay Area was on board to work for justice for all. “There should be no conviction”, said President of the New York Veteran Police Association Lou Telano. He joined CCTV America to discuss the Liang case and backlash.

The defense argued that Liang was a frightened rookie whose gun accidentally discharged when he was in a unsafe situation with another officer, new to the police force. Maria Chappelle-Nadal, D-University City, who was an outspoken participant in the Ferguson protests following the 2014 fatal shooting of black teenager Michael Brown by a white police officer. “And now they are putting him in jail and we see it’s not a procedure”.

“What happened on November 20 was a tragedy for both families”, Councilwoman Margaret Chin in Manhattan said in a statement.