New York policeman convicted of manslaughter for killing black man
A US police officer in New York City was convicted on Thursday of manslaughter and official misconduct for fatally shooting an innocent African American man.
A jury in the New York borough of Brooklyn found Peter Liang guilty in connection with the death of Akai Gurley, 28, who was killed by a bullet fired from Liang's gun on November 20, 2014.
Liang, also 28, was on patrol inside a public housing project with his partner and pulled out his gun after entering a darkened stairwell.
He fired a single shot that bounced off a wall and into the chest of Gurley, who was walking one floor below.
Liang testified during the trial that a sudden noise startled him, causing his finger to slip onto the trigger and fire the gun.
But prosecutors argued that Liang fired toward the sound deliberately and that he must have known only another person could have caused the noise that surprised him.
"I think it's clear to you that he knew someone was there," Assistant District Attorney Joseph Alexis told jurors in his closing argument, adding that the shooting was "no accident."
New York City police officer Peter Liang is escorted into court after he was charged with manslaughter, official misconduct and other offenses on February 11, 2015 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. (AFP photo)
Liang, a Chinese-American, faces up to 15 years in prison when he is sentenced in April. Activists on Twitter cheered the verdict, with many saying it was an important first step in holding officers accountable.
"It was a tragedy, but justice was done," Brooklyn District Attorney Kenneth Thompson told local media after the trial. "What we saw today is that people from all walks of life came together here in Brooklyn to affirm that Akai Gurley's life did matter."
Civil rights activists had already called for a demonstration on Friday at police headquarters regardless of the trial's outcome.
Gurley’s fatal shooting was one of several killings of black men, mostly by white officers, that fueled debates and violent protests across the US about the use of excessive force by police, especially against minorities.
Police in the United States fatally shot about 1,000 people in 2015, of which blacks made up over a third of those killed, according to a recent report by the Washington Post.
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