Thousands rally in support of Peter Liang at Cadman Plaza
Thousands of people rallied at Cadman Plaza on Saturday, February 20 protesting the conviction of former NYPD officer Peter Liang, who, while on foot patrol inside one of East New York’s Louis Pink Houses in November, 2014, fired his gun into a darkened stairwell, fatally striking 28-year-old Akai Gurley in the chest.
While public opinion on Liang’s second-degree manslaughter and official misconduct conviction has been split, the rally was held in support of Liang and to “demand justice, not politics” for the 28-year-old former officer from Bensonhurst. Liang was fired from the NYPD immediately following his conviction.
“Our rally committee expresses the deepest condolences to the family of Akai Gurley,” the Asian Chinese Commerce Association, Brooklyn Asian Community Empowerment, The Coalition of Asian Americans for Civil Rights and the United Chinese Association of Brooklyn Inc., released in a joint statement. “His loss was certainly a tragedy for his family as well as the city. We are equally saddened and deeply concerned by the selective and unjust prosecution of Peter Liang, a NYPD officer, who is made the scapegoat of politics as well as is the victim of selective prosecution which fails to resolve the long-standing distrust and tension between the minority community and law enforcement.”