More than 15,000 people came to Cadman Plaza, just outside the federal courthouse in Brooklyn, on Saturday, Feb. 20, to protest the conviction of police officer Peter Liang on manslaughter charges, in relation to Akai Gurley’s death in the 2014 accidental shooting incident.
The Brooklyn protest also reflected the sentiments of people in similar gatherings in other cities. In downtown Philadelphia, an estimated 5,000 people marched, while thousands more rallied in Chinatowns in San Francisco and Los Angeles. Other protests occurred at the Washington Monument and in Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver and Miami.
A total of 30 protests were held across the U.S., according to the Coalition of Justice for Liang, the national group that organized the protests.
A report by the Daily Mail said that many of the protesters spoke out against the unfair treatment received by the Chinese-American police officer as they wave American flags and hold signs with slogans such as "No scapegoating" and "No selective justice," among others.
Liang was convicted on Feb. 11 for accidentally killing Akai Gurley in a Brooklyn housing project last year.
According to the protesters, Liang was convicted because he is a minority, and that it was intended to appease the public outcry on other shootings of minorities by police in the U.S.
Protesters shouted "No scapegoat! No scapegoat!" and expressed their anger that Liang was fired immediately after a jury convicted him. He now faces up to 15 years in prison. Liang is scheduled to be sentenced on April 14.
During trial in court, Liang testified that he had drawn his gun as he entered a Brooklyn housing project and that he fired after being startled by a noise. The bullet ricocheted off a wall and hit Gurley, who died eventually.
Liang did not deny the killing, but said that it was an accident, not a crime, the report said.
Several Brooklyn protesters echoed this sentiment as they held up signs with pictures of Liang's face and text that read, "Tragedy not crime" and "An accident is not a felony!" A woman held a sign that read: "One tragedy, two victims!"
'We're here today to let people know that Chinese-Americans count as well," Don Lee, a candidate for New York's State Assembly from Lower Manhattan, told the Associated Press. "It is a tragedy that Akai Gurley was shot and killed. . . . But this tragedy's been compounded by another tragedy, that Peter Liang, in an accident, is going to go to jail for up to 15 years."
Liang's attorney, Robert Brown, who also attended the Brooklyn rally, said that the community's support was "very uplifting" to Liang, adding that he has filed motions to have the verdict set aside.
The report, however, said that a few dozen people held a counter-protest across the street from the Brooklyn protest as officers stood between the crowds with plastic handcuffs and batons.
During the trial, prosecutors faulted Liang for recklessly drawing his gun, placing his finger on the trigger, and for doing nothing to help Gurley as he lay dying on the floor.
Soraya Soi Free, one of those counter-protesting, said she did not approve of the protest and that Liang was tried by a jury of his peers, so he could not have been a scapegoat. "This protest is definitely an insult to Akai Gurley's family," she said.
Gurley's shooting occurred at a time when there was a nationwide debate over police killings of black men. Activists looked to Liang's trial as a counterweight to cases where grand juries have declined to indict officers, such as the cases of Michael Brown in Missouri and Eric Garner in New York. Like Gurley, Brown and Garner were also black and unarmed.