TRAGEDY NOT CRIME

In front of the Brooklyn federal courthouse, 15,000 mostly Asian-Americans protested the manslaughter conviction of former NYPD officer Peter Liang

Former NYPD officer Peter Liang was convicted in federal court February 11 for manslaughter in the accidental stairwell shooting of an unarmed black man during a vertical patrol of a Brooklyn public housing building. The 2014 shooting occurred when Liang was startled by a noise in the stairwell and accidentally discharged his weapon, fatally wounding Akai Gurley. The prosecution maintained that Liang had recklessly drawn his gun, that he shouldn't have had his finger on the trigger, and that he did nothing to help Gurley as he lay dying on the floor.

On Saturday 15,000 mostly Asian-Americans protested Liang’s conviction in front of the Brooklyn federal courthouse. They held signs reading “Tragedy Not Crime,” “No Scapegoating,” “No Selective Justice,” “An Accident Is Not A Felony,” “Justice for Peter Liang,” as well as several others, some of which offered condolences to Gurley’s family.

Demonstrators in 30 cities, including Philadelphia, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Miami and at the Washington Monument, also protested Liang’s conviction.

The Brooklyn demonstrators were met by a group of protesters supporting Liang’s conviction. They held up signs that read, “Justice For Akai Gurley – Jail Killer Cops.”

I seriously doubt Officer Liang would have been charged and tried for anything were it not for the ‘Ferguson effect.’ Before Michael brown was shot dead by Officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Missouri in 2014, the Liang case would have been considered a tragic accident. I think that’s what it really was.

While Liang deserved to be disciplined for screwing up, he should not have been fired and certainly not criminally charged.

It seems as though the feds and local prosecutors are eager to placate an angry minority community. From now on, cops better make sure they are damn right before they shoot at anyone. Of course, for hesitating just a nanosecond too long, some officers will be shot dead. That will also placate some members of the minority community.