Hundreds of protesters on Saturday rallied around the Northeast Quadrant of the Washington Monument in the country's capital city, to support NYPD officer Peter Liang who was convicted of manslaughter earlier this month in the death of African-American man Akai Gurley.(Xinhua/Bao Dandan)
The bullet hit the wall before ricocheting and hitting Akai Gurley on a lower level, piercing his heart and liver. It was minutes later Liang came to know Gurley was struck and killed. "I was shocked. I was in disbelief that someone was actually hit," Liang recalled.
Liang is the first policeman from the New York Police Department to be convicted of homicide in the shooting of a civilian since 2005.
Many believe that the manslaughter conviction has been influenced by the enormous pressure on the country's law enforcement, as white police officers have often walked scot-free in similar incidents wherein innocent black civilians were killed, which have triggered massive protests and riots from African-American communities nationwide.
Outside of the Cadman Plaza Park, a dozen of "black lives matter" activists also held an opposing protest. They demanded "killer cops" be jailed, and called for stricter police accountability.
"In New York and all over this country, for a long time, we can point to many even worse instances of police abuse and police murder where the police have gotten off. But that does not make Peter Liang any more innocent," said protester Richard Kossally.
Still, supporters of Peter Liang believe that the death of Mr. Gurley was purely an accident. "There should be no conviction," said President of the New York Veteran Police Association Lou Telano. "We hope that the law enforcement realize that this was just a tragic incident, which doesn't warrant manslaughter, and doesn't warrant a crime. There's no intent."
"My feeling is, that (the guilty verdict of) Peter Liang is just pacifying certain political groups." Lou said.
Attorney Hugh H. Mo, who served as deputy police commissioner of New York and assistant district attorney in Manhattan, believes that the guilty conviction was affected by the current political climate.
"I think you have to examine Peter Liang's case in the context of wrong time, wrong place. Within the last year and half, or two years, there has been such a great number of police shootings of the innocent black man. That certainly created a whole issue of police accountability. As we all know after (Eric) Garner and (Michael) Brown, these cases that have galvanized African American community as well as the white community, many African American feel that police had to be held accountable."
Many others held similar opinion. Chief Information Officer at Coalition of Asian American Don B. Lee, said "I believe that Peter Liang was convicted in the court of public opinion before he is even convicted in the court of law."
Liang and his partner was fired from the police department right after the conviction. His sentencing is set for April 14.
Although a guilty conviction by a jury is very difficult to overturn, supporters has voiced hope for leniency in Liang's sentencing.
"What happened on Nov. 20 was a tragedy for both families," Councilwoman Margaret Chin in Manhattan said in a statement. "I ask that Judge Chun give the many factors that made that tragedy happen due consideration in the sentencing of Peter Liang."
"I hope that District Attorney Thompson will say to the sentencing judges that Peter Liang did not intend to kill Akai Gurley to get things right. This is an accident, not a crime," said Don Lee.
(Xinhua journalists Wang Fan in New York, Zhang Chaoquan in Los Angeles, Lu Jiafei in Washington, Xu Jing in Chicago also contributed to the story)
