Officer Peter Liang Convicted in Fatal Shooting of Akai Gurley in Brooklyn
A New York City police officer was convicted of manslaughter on Thursday for killing an unarmed man who was hit by a ricocheting bullet fired from the officer’s gun in the stairwell of a Brooklyn housing project in a case that highlighted concerns over police accountability.
The officer, Peter Liang, and his partner were conducting a so-called vertical patrol on Nov. 20, 2014, inside the Louis H. Pink Houses in the East New York neighborhood. At one point, Officer Liang opened a door into an unlighted stairwell and his gun went off. The bullet glanced off a wall and hit Akai Gurley, 28, who was walking down the stairs with his girlfriend, and pierced his heart.
Mr. Liang, a rookie officer who had graduated from the Police Academy the year before the shooting, was also found guilty of official misconduct for failing to help Mr. Gurley as he lay on a fifth-floor landing. Mr. Gurley’s girlfriend, Melissa Butler, had testified that while she knelt in a pool of his blood trying to resuscitate him, the officer stopped briefly but did not help before proceeding down the stairs.
The verdict, delivered in State Supreme Court in Brooklyn, comes amid a national debate on the policing of black neighborhoods after a string of killings of unarmed black men by police officers. And the jury’s decision is a rare instance in which a police officer was convicted of killing someone in the line of duty.
The jury deliberated a little more than two days before reaching a verdict. The Police Department said soon after the verdict that it had fired Officer Liang.
After hearing the verdict, Officer Liang bowed his head and sank his face into his hands. His lawyer placed a hand on the officer’s back. The officer left the courthouse without speaking to reporters.
“Clearly it’s a terrible tragedy Mr. Gurley died,” said one of Officer Liang’s lawyers, Robert E. Brown, who had described the shooting as a freakish accident. “My client feels terrible about it, but what he did wasn’t a crime.”
The jury’s decision elicited tears from Mr. Gurley’s family and friends. They huddled in a group embrace, crying, swaying and offering words of relief and thanks.
Mr. Liang, 28, faces up to 15 years in prison on the second-degree manslaughter charge when he is sentenced on April 14. Most of the jurors left the courtroom quickly, but one juror, who declined to give his name, said in a brief interview that the decision had been “very, very, very difficult.”
“I’ve got to face my family; half of them are cops,” he added.
The prosecutors portrayed Officer Liang as acting recklessly in pulling out his weapon and firing inside a public space where residents come and go. They also accused him of being more concerned over what the shooting would mean for his career than in abiding by police rules and trying to help Mr. Gurley, a father to two young girls, after he had been shot.
Mr. Liang’s lawyers had argued that he was in a state of shock over what he had done; they said he felt unqualified to perform CPR, as is required of an officer under such circumstances, because he received poor training at the Police Academy. His partner, Officer Shaun Landau, who was provided immunity from prosecution, also testified about receiving little training. He said Officer Liang sank to the floor, in tears, shortly after realizing he had shot someone. The prosecution introduced a radio call Mr. Liang made into evidence, saying he did not call for an ambulance. The defense said the dispatch was tantamount to a call for help for Mr. Gurley.
In a statement on Thursday night, Mayor Bill de Blasio said: “The death of Akai Gurley was a tragedy. The jury has now spoken, and we respect its decision. We hope today’s outcome brings some closure to the Gurley family after this painful event.”
The Brooklyn district attorney, Ken Thompson, told reporters that as the verdict was read he turned to Sylvia Palmer, Mr. Gurley’s mother, and whispered, “I’m sorry.”
“I told his mother, ‘I’m sorry,’” he said. “I’m sorry we were in that courtroom at that point.”
Mr. Thompson made it clear that the conviction “was is in no way a conviction of the New York City Police Department.”
“What we are saying, and what we said in this case, is that we have to have police officers who follow the training they’re given,” he added.
GRAPHIC
Fatal Police Encounters in New York City
Some of the fatal encounters since 1990 involving New York Police Department officers. Most did not lead to criminal charges.
The shooting came at a tense moment in relations between the police and the city’s black population — four months earlier, a Staten Island man, Eric Garner, died after he was placed in a chokehold by a police officer who had been trying to help arrest Mr. Garner for selling loose cigarettes.
More broadly, Mr. Gurley’s death became linked by many to the string of killings across the country of unarmed black men at the hands of the police.
In New York, officers are rarely indicted by grand juries, let alone put on trial, for deaths that occur in the line of duty — no officer has been charged in the death of Mr. Garner in 2014.
In 2005, an undercover police officer was convicted by a State Supreme Court judge for killing an unarmed African immigrant, Ousmane Zongo, 43, during a raid inside a Chelsea warehouse. And in a case that set off protests and widespread condemnation, three detectives were found not guilty of all charges in 2008 after a nonjury trial in the death of Sean Bell, 23, who was killed on his wedding day in Queens by police gunfire.
In opening statements, a lawyer for the defense, Rae Downes Koshetz,strove to make clear that the trial was “not a referendum on policing in the United States.” The defense also argued that patrolling housing projects is one of the most dangerous assignments for a police officer, a point that seemed to be driven home during the trial when two officers conducting such a patrol inside a Bronx housing project were shot and wounded.
The key moment of the trial was perhaps the emotional testimony of Mr. Liang himself, who said he was startled when he heard a sound in the stairwell, causing him to flinch before his weapon fired. He said he did not realize anyone had been hit until he went down the stairs to look for the bullet. As he described finding Mr. Gurley lying wounded, Mr. Liang turned his back to the courtroom and started to cry.
Mr. Gurley’s relatives, many of whom sat in the front row of the courtroom every day of the more than two-week trial, have viewed Mr. Gurley’s death as inextricably linked to the issues of how black communities are the victims of excessive and unjust policing. Officer Liang, who is Chinese-American, has strong support in the Chinese community, and his mother and several members of his family have attended much of the trial.His mother declined to comment after the verdict.
Outside the courthouse in Downtown Brooklyn, one of Mr. Gurley’s aunts, Hertencia Petersen, stood next to his mother, while behind them, his stepfather swayed back and forth, at times raising his palms skyward as if in praise. Ms. Petersen said she was moved that the jury had convicted a police officer, adding that the guilty verdict was an outcome “that has not come down in how long?”
Questions to consider in your response:
-DO you agree with the conviction of officer Liang?
-Who do you blame? The officer? His lack of training in CPR and guns? Or the victim for being in a dark stairwell ?
-Do you think race played a role in this? Liang is Asian Americans, Gurley was African American. Is this a "Black Lives Matter" issue in your mind?
Personally i do agree with the conviction of officer Liang. To be honest that story is sketchy & I feel like something else happen. For example taking out his gun right away and shoot was honestly just an absurd decision. I do blame Officer Liang, that's his fault. How you shoot somebody by mistake and not try to help them at all and you're a cop. Race doesn't have to do with this at all. Lets say race didn't exist nor skin color, everybody was white. If this same event happen, Officer Liang is still wrong and that conviction was right.
ReplyDeletewhat I think about this case is that if officer liang was white he would of got off with the charges against him. Because all of the shooting that happen to an un armd man was white. and they had allot of evidence they had help to drop the charger's. Even one of the issue that happen with the man that where selling cigarette's they killed outside and it was on tap. Yes I do agree that this issue was a race issue and why did not he have a partner with him so called patrolling.
ReplyDeleteI do agree with the conviction of Officer Liang because While he was patrolling the community he pulled out a weapon and shooted inside a building. which bounced from a wall and hited kirei gurley. Officer Liang shouldn't pulled out his gun and shooted in the first place just cause it was very dark and he got scared. he shouldn't asked if anyone was there. And shooting inside a building is dangerous because there people who lives there who exits and enters the building, he might ned up killing someone else. While akai Gurley was lying down in a puddle of blood Officer Liang shouldn't at least helped akai gurley, instead he panicked and ran. I also don't think that race played in this tragic event because all the shootings that happen was an armed white officer who mistakenly thought that an innocent black person was commiting a crime and accsidently killing them. I think that if officer liang was white he wouldn't get arrested and his charges will get dropped just like when Eric gardner was killed nobody haded proof that if he did or didn't killed eric gardner so wsnt arrested and all his charges were dropped, but sice officer liang was Asian it was a completely different situation and he was sentenced to fifteen years in prison.
ReplyDeleteI disagree with the situation that the cops that killed Akai Gurley should have a life time in prison because he killed a black guy for no reason. Plus he should be guilty because he should have checked to see who was in the stairs instead of just shooting randomly. I feel that the man Akai Gurley should have his case finish by the cops going to jail.
ReplyDeleteI mean if the cops really shot Akai Gurley by accident should at less have help the man by calling the ambulance or 911. I think that is so sad because both cops was not being the right cops like they made a accident or on purpose the world will never know but at the end of the day both cops should have help the man .It's their jobs.
I would say that officer Liang should be claimed as guilty do to the fact of killing an innocent man walking with his girlfriend in a dark stairwell ... No cop should randomly shoot do to a noisse that they hear, but than again i understand that the shots were only fired do to reactions... over protection reactions
ReplyDeleteI do agree with the conviction they gave to officer Liang because of the fact that he should be guilty for what he did to the young man.There is no excuse to shoot a gun if you aren't getting harmed or you are at gun point. I blame the officer as well as the CPR training he got because in my opinion you shouldn't let someone graduate as an officer if they don't have well experiences.Its so easy to know basic cop stuff but it takes a lot to put half of your sense in when you're at a serious situation because no one but you is in your shoes. I feel as if racism is part of this because of the fact that his wife witness when the cops saw the young black man on the floor fighting for his life they didn't bother calling an ambulance because if you are in shocked as he said he was and "trained " and said it was by accident he should've still called for help but didn't so I do agree that he is guilty and got what he deserved because even the chart of every person that been hurt by cops is crazy and half of those cops didn't deserve to be free at all. They need better training for this CPR because its just sad.
ReplyDeleteI feel like it's Officer Liang fault because and his lack of training. There is no reason why a officer should pull out his gun because the stairwell was dark. Even if he was scared that didn't make sense. I feel like also the officers need to get better training. I feel like training is the most important thing for cops now that I have read this article. This also shows that officers will pull out there gun for anything. I feel like even if officer Liang didn't kill Mr.Gurley he should've still got some type of time in jail. I feel that way because firing in a dark stairwell is dangerous , not only because of other citizens but officer Liang himself. The bullet could've bounced off the wall and he could've pierced himself. I also feel that if it was a white cop he would have not got convicted.
ReplyDeleteI see where Officer Liang is coming from but that still dosen't mean that you should of just fired of being scared. Because one he shouldn't have been there by himself because sure your cop but hello you always need some sort of back up, second you just don't shoot off the gun cause the stair way is dark. That's like me in the middle of the woods with me friends and i just hear like a crack or just a random noise and i shoot off my gun and accidently shoot one of my friends, and im like oohh my bad i was scared it was dark. I feel even if officer Liang didn't kill Mr.Gurley I feel he still should get his badge taken away and have some jail time.
ReplyDelete