Thousands joined the protest in New York to show their support for Peter Liang. (Photo : REUTERS)
The conviction of Peter Liang, a Chinese-American and former police officer in New York who shot an unarmed black man, has led to protests from Asian-Americans, resulting in a divide in their community about whether he has been victimized because of his race, as reported by Mashable.
On Saturday, around 10,000 people, mostly Asian-Americans, held a rally to support Peter Liang, who shot and killed Akai Gurley in a dark stairwell in the Louis Pink Houses in Brooklyn, New York, in Nov. 2014.
The demonstrators gathered across from the Brooklyn courthouse where Liang was convicted, holding signs that read "One tragedy, two victims" and chanting "No scapegoat! No scapegoat!"
According to Liang's supporters, Liang was discriminated against and used as a scapegoat. They claimed that the evidence used against him was not as strong as recent cases involving white police officers killing unarmed black people yet walked free.
"All the policemen have no punishment for all they did," said Tommy Shi, a resident of Manhattan, to the New York Times. "Peter Liang is a scapegoat for all this. . . . That's why we stand for Peter Liang."
On Feb. 11, the jury at Liang's trial came back with a guilty verdict following two days of deliberation, making it the first time an NYPD officer has been convicted in a line-of-duty shooting in more than a decade.
The prosecution argued that Liang's reckless actions led to Gurley's death, while his defense argued that the shooting, while tragic, was not the result of Liang committing a crime.
Liang's partner testified against him, as well as Gurley's girlfriend, who said he was more worried about how it would affect his job rather than try to get medical assistance for Gurley, who was dying on the floor.
However, the demonstrators believe that Liang's gun firing was an accident.
According to Liang's supporters, he had his gun drawn while he and his partner were patrolling the Louis Pink Houses. When he opened the door in the stairwell, his gun fired, and a bullet ricocheted off a wall, hitting Gurley.
Not all Asian-Americans have been supportive of Liang. Annie Tan, an Asian-American writing for Medium, said she hoped the event would start a dialogue in the Asian-American community.
"I urge my Chinese-American and Asian-American communities to think long and hard about which side of history we are on and what it means to support Officer Liang," said Tan.
