Mr Uncle Leroy
All Star
The last NYPD police officer convicted in a fatal civilian shooting was in 2005. Bryan Conroy was sentenced to probation and 500 hours of community service for killing an African immigrant during a police raid.
Cathy Dang, executive director of CAAAV Organizing Asian Communities, a group that addresses police and hate violence toward Asian immigrants and that has been vocal in calling for Liang’s conviction, said that all district attorneys must be held accountable to prosecute white police officers.
“All the evidence presented before the jury demonstrates that Officer Liang is in fact guilty,” she said in a statement. “Now, what we have left is to hold the entire system accountable.”
During more than a dozen interviews in Mandarin with NBC News Friday afternoon, members of the Chinese immigrant community along Brooklyn’s Eighth Avenue said they believed race played a role in the case, and that Liang was being scapegoated for the lack of indictments in other civilian deaths at the hands of police. It’s a sentiment that has also been repeated in the Chinese-language press.
“After hearing the verdict, we were all surprised,” said one man, who declined to give his name but said he was a worker at Sweet Cafe Inc.
Another woman behind the counter who called the verdict “unfair” added: “We don’t dare tell our kids to become police officers. It’s so scary.”
Up the block at EG Homes Inc., a home goods store, a man behind the counter who gave only his last name as Dong said if Liang were white, he wouldn’t have been found guilty. He also said Liang was a scapegoat.
“So many white police officers don’t have any problem,” Dong said, adding that the guilty verdict didn’t surprise him. “But a Chinese officer does. [That’s because] we’re a minority.”
At Fortune Bakery, a woman who gave only her last name as Huang ran back and forth between the kitchen and the display counter bringing out warm buns as she shared an almost identical viewpoint with Dong.
“If Liang were white, he wouldn’t have had an issue,” Huang said, adding she thought the verdict was unfair. “They bully Chinese. It’s discrimination.”
One of Huang’s coworkers, who declined to provide her name, displayed her cellphone and showed a message sent over WeChat, a popular Chinese-language social media platform, urging members of the Chinese community to attend Friday afternoon’s press conference in Brooklyn where Liang’s mother appeared.
At a separate news conference in Manhattan’s Chinatown Friday afternoon, Robert Brown and Rae Koshetz, Liang’s attorneys, told NBC News they were shocked when they heard the guilty verdict announced Thursday night.
“I can’t imagine how the jury determined that the people proved beyond a reasonable doubt that Peter’s actions were reckless manslaughter,” Brown said.
Brown and Koshetz have argued during the trial that Liang was in a “state of shock” after his gun accidentally went off, that he was unaware his bullet had struck anyone, and that he tried to make several radio transmissions about the shooting that were incomplete or did not go through.
But prosecutors portrayed Liang’s actions in a different light, telling jurors in opening arguments that Liang violated key critical life-and-death training when he recklessly pulled out his gun, fired without reason, and then argued with his partner over calling for help as Gurley lay dying.
RELATED: Cleveland mayor apologizes, drops Tamir Rice’s ambulance charge
Brown and Koshetz both said they still stick by their decision for a trial by jury rather than by State Supreme Court Justice Danny Chun in Brooklyn.
“We’re back at the same place that we would be, which is that the judge now has an opportunity to consider whether the evidence was sufficient to support the charges,” Koshetz said.
Liang’s attorneys asked Chun to set aside the verdict, a decision the judge said he would reserve for a later date. Brown said Chun would likely announce his ruling on April 14 when Liang, who remains free without bail, is sentenced. He faces up to 15 years in prison.
Brown and Koshetz also said they plan to appeal if Chun does not dismiss the charges. On Wednesday, Liang’s attorneys asked Chun to declare a mistrial, arguing that Brooklyn Assistant District Attorney Joseph Alexis, in his closing statements, accused Liang of committing intentional crimes for which he hadn’t been charged. Chun denied the request, saying Alexis’ statements did not rise to the level of prosecutorial misconduct.
A number of Asian-American elected officials also weighed in on Thursday’s verdict. New York City Council member Margaret Chin, who last year praised the indictment and at the time told NBC News that Liang had to be held accountable for Gurley’s death, said in a statement: “My thoughts and prayers are with the family of Akai Gurley, and Officer Liang’s family, friends and supporters. Now that the jury has reached its verdict, it is my hope that the long process of healing can begin.”
State Assemblyman Ron Kim of Queens said his heart was heavy for both Gurley and Liang.
“I do not believe true justice prevailed,” Kim said in a statement. “Our system failed Gurley and it failed Liang. It pitted the unjust death of an innocent young black man against the unjust scapegoating of a young Asian police officer who was frightened, poorly trained, and who committed a terrible accident.”
At the press conference in Brooklyn Friday, Liang’s mother said in Mandarin that she hadn’t slept since hearing the verdict. Worried about her son’s spirits, she added that she’s kept watch over Liang all day and all night.
“He has already suffered enough after the incident,” she said. “And now he has been convicted of manslaughter.”
Former NYPD cop Peter Liang's guilty verdict leaves a community divided
Cathy Dang, executive director of CAAAV Organizing Asian Communities, a group that addresses police and hate violence toward Asian immigrants and that has been vocal in calling for Liang’s conviction, said that all district attorneys must be held accountable to prosecute white police officers.
“All the evidence presented before the jury demonstrates that Officer Liang is in fact guilty,” she said in a statement. “Now, what we have left is to hold the entire system accountable.”
During more than a dozen interviews in Mandarin with NBC News Friday afternoon, members of the Chinese immigrant community along Brooklyn’s Eighth Avenue said they believed race played a role in the case, and that Liang was being scapegoated for the lack of indictments in other civilian deaths at the hands of police. It’s a sentiment that has also been repeated in the Chinese-language press.
“After hearing the verdict, we were all surprised,” said one man, who declined to give his name but said he was a worker at Sweet Cafe Inc.
Another woman behind the counter who called the verdict “unfair” added: “We don’t dare tell our kids to become police officers. It’s so scary.”
Up the block at EG Homes Inc., a home goods store, a man behind the counter who gave only his last name as Dong said if Liang were white, he wouldn’t have been found guilty. He also said Liang was a scapegoat.
“So many white police officers don’t have any problem,” Dong said, adding that the guilty verdict didn’t surprise him. “But a Chinese officer does. [That’s because] we’re a minority.”
At Fortune Bakery, a woman who gave only her last name as Huang ran back and forth between the kitchen and the display counter bringing out warm buns as she shared an almost identical viewpoint with Dong.
“If Liang were white, he wouldn’t have had an issue,” Huang said, adding she thought the verdict was unfair. “They bully Chinese. It’s discrimination.”
One of Huang’s coworkers, who declined to provide her name, displayed her cellphone and showed a message sent over WeChat, a popular Chinese-language social media platform, urging members of the Chinese community to attend Friday afternoon’s press conference in Brooklyn where Liang’s mother appeared.
At a separate news conference in Manhattan’s Chinatown Friday afternoon, Robert Brown and Rae Koshetz, Liang’s attorneys, told NBC News they were shocked when they heard the guilty verdict announced Thursday night.
“I can’t imagine how the jury determined that the people proved beyond a reasonable doubt that Peter’s actions were reckless manslaughter,” Brown said.
Brown and Koshetz have argued during the trial that Liang was in a “state of shock” after his gun accidentally went off, that he was unaware his bullet had struck anyone, and that he tried to make several radio transmissions about the shooting that were incomplete or did not go through.
But prosecutors portrayed Liang’s actions in a different light, telling jurors in opening arguments that Liang violated key critical life-and-death training when he recklessly pulled out his gun, fired without reason, and then argued with his partner over calling for help as Gurley lay dying.
RELATED: Cleveland mayor apologizes, drops Tamir Rice’s ambulance charge
Brown and Koshetz both said they still stick by their decision for a trial by jury rather than by State Supreme Court Justice Danny Chun in Brooklyn.
“We’re back at the same place that we would be, which is that the judge now has an opportunity to consider whether the evidence was sufficient to support the charges,” Koshetz said.
Liang’s attorneys asked Chun to set aside the verdict, a decision the judge said he would reserve for a later date. Brown said Chun would likely announce his ruling on April 14 when Liang, who remains free without bail, is sentenced. He faces up to 15 years in prison.
Brown and Koshetz also said they plan to appeal if Chun does not dismiss the charges. On Wednesday, Liang’s attorneys asked Chun to declare a mistrial, arguing that Brooklyn Assistant District Attorney Joseph Alexis, in his closing statements, accused Liang of committing intentional crimes for which he hadn’t been charged. Chun denied the request, saying Alexis’ statements did not rise to the level of prosecutorial misconduct.
A number of Asian-American elected officials also weighed in on Thursday’s verdict. New York City Council member Margaret Chin, who last year praised the indictment and at the time told NBC News that Liang had to be held accountable for Gurley’s death, said in a statement: “My thoughts and prayers are with the family of Akai Gurley, and Officer Liang’s family, friends and supporters. Now that the jury has reached its verdict, it is my hope that the long process of healing can begin.”
State Assemblyman Ron Kim of Queens said his heart was heavy for both Gurley and Liang.
“I do not believe true justice prevailed,” Kim said in a statement. “Our system failed Gurley and it failed Liang. It pitted the unjust death of an innocent young black man against the unjust scapegoating of a young Asian police officer who was frightened, poorly trained, and who committed a terrible accident.”
At the press conference in Brooklyn Friday, Liang’s mother said in Mandarin that she hadn’t slept since hearing the verdict. Worried about her son’s spirits, she added that she’s kept watch over Liang all day and all night.
“He has already suffered enough after the incident,” she said. “And now he has been convicted of manslaughter.”
Former NYPD cop Peter Liang's guilty verdict leaves a community divided
This shyt is so backwards
