Chinese-American officer Peter Liang was convicted of manslaughter for the fatal shooting of an unarmed black man in a darkened public housing stairwell. (Photo : REUTERS)
More than 10,000 people are set to join rallies across the U.S. next week to protest the conviction of a Chinese-American police officer involved in the case of a man who died from a bullet which ricocheted, the Global Times reported.
The report said that the local Chinese-American community called the verdict a "result of politics, not justice."
Peter Liang, a New York City police officer, and his partner were conducting a patrol when his gun went off and the bullet bounced off a wall and hit Gurley in a dark stairwell. Liang was convicted of manslaughter on Thursday, Feb. 11, for killing Akai Gurley, a 28-year-old black man.
"Some white police officers have accidentally killed unarmed people, too, but the punishment for them was lighter compared to the one Liang received. Liang should not be treated differently because of his race," Wang Tian, president of the Beijing Association in Los Angeles, who plans to organize protests over the conviction, told the Global Times on Sunday, Feb. 14.
Wang said that rallies will be held on Feb. 20 in several cities across the U.S. as more than 10,000 people have answered the call.
The report said that the verdict is the latest in a series of cases in the U.S. involving unarmed black men killed by police officers. It is also one of the rare cases in which a police officer is convicted of manslaughter in the line of duty.
The report added that chat groups were formed on social media such as WeChat to support Liang, while several Chinese-language media in the U.S. wrote commentary on the conviction.
John C. Liu, a former New York Council member who ran for mayor in 2013, called for "justice reform." A day after the conviction, he referred to Liang as an "Asian scapegoat" on his Twitter account.
"The Chinese in the U.S. are still a weak group. We don't have political muscle and are always discriminated on or victimized. We demand a fair trial for Liang, as well as a voice for the Chinese community," Wang said.
Liang may face up to 15 years in jail, if he is sentenced, the report said.
In 2014, Darren Wilson, a white police officer, fatally shot an 18-year-old boy in Ferguson, Missouri. But the U.S. Department of Justice cleared Wilson in the shooting and announced that he would not be charged in the incident.
