Ten of thousands of Chinese Americans marched across the Brooklyn Bridge on Sunday, calling for fair and just trial of Peter Liang, the NYPD officer who fired a fatal shooting of the black man Akai Gurley.
Liang, a 27-year-old with only a year and a half on the job, is accused of shooting dead Gurley, 28, in a dark stairwell in Brooklyn's East New York housing project where the officer and his partner went for a patrol due to reports of spiked violent crimes.
According to prosecutors, the stairwell was completely dark when Liang's ricocheted bullet struck the chest of Gurley, who made two flights of stairs before collapsing.
On Feb. 10, a Brooklyn grand jury indicted Liang on six counts, including manslaughter which could lead to up to 15 years in prison.
A hearing will be held for the case in about two weeks, and the Chinese Americans decided to go to the streets to express support for Liang, according to Brooklyn Asian Communities Empowerment Chairman Shanzhuang Chen.
"Today, we're going to march across the landmark Brooklyn Bridge in New York, in a bid to make American society aware of that Chinese Americans are not mutes," he said.
John Liu, previous comptroller of New York City, pointed out that Chinese Americans are part of the American society, but hundreds of years passed since they came, they are still taken as foreigners. The unfair charge revealed the double standard of America.
The immigrants come to the U.S. to pursue their American dream for a better life. But the unfair treatment to Chinese Americans is injustice for everyone here, the New York State Assembly Member William Colton said at the gathering.
The demonstrators holding high the banners "seeking justice for Peter Liang", "discharge accidentally of the gunshot doesn't equal to crime" , and shouting slogans, marched to the final destination of Chinatown in Manhattan.
