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A New Sentencing Date for NYPD’s Peter Liang

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A crowd gathered near 320 Jay Street April 14th even though the sentencing of NYPD cop Peter Liang did not happened today as scheduled and was postponed a week. A New York judge postponed sentencing for a former rookie police officer convicted in the 2014 shooting death of an unarmed man after allegations of juror misconduct. NYPD, Peter Liang, 28, the same age as the young man, Akai Gurley, who’s life he took, Nov 20, 2014 in the stairwell in the Brooklyn Pink Houses, was scheduled to be sentenced Thursday in the shooting death of Akai Gurley. Instead, defense attorneys argued Liang did not get a fair trial because one of the jurors, Michael Vargas, did not disclose his father’s criminal past and his family’s interaction with the criminal justice system.

From the FB page ‘4/14 Rally For Akai Gurley‘:

On March 23rd, DA Ken Thompson held a press conference where he stated “Justice will be best served if Mr. Liang is sentenced to five years of probation, with the condition that he serves six months of home confinement with electric monitoring and performs 500 hours of community service. I have provided this sentencing recommendation to Justice Chun. As I have said before, there are no winners here. But the sentence that I have requested is just and fair under the circumstances of this case. From the beginning, this tragic case has always been about justice and not about revenge.” Ken Thompson recommendation is a betrayal to Akai Gurley and his family and we demand justice! Peter Liang violated his police training in everyway and left Akai Gurley to die in a stairway. Peter Liang, because of this should be imprisoned. On April 14th, we will make the message clear to Judge Danny Chun- make sure Liang is actually punished and services jail time! Join us on April 14th at 320 Jay St, 9AM on the 2nd floor.

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“WHAT DO WE WANT? JUSTICE, WHEN DO WE WANT IT? NOW” in call and response format yesterday near 320 Jay St Brooklyn for #JusticeForAkaiGurley.
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“IF WE DON’T GET IT SHUT IT DOWN, IF WE DON’T GET IT, SHUT IT DOWN”, yelled out organizers for #JsuticeForAkaiGurley April 14th which was to be the sentencing of NYPD Peter Liang.
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Hawa Bah, mother of Mohammed Bah, shot 8 times by NYPD including once in the head when she called for an ambulance for her son for having behavioral problems.
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Joshua Lopez who’s Uncle, John Collado, was shot and killed by NYPD undercover cops when his Uncle tried breaking up a fight with the cop and another person the cop was fighting with whom John Collado knew.
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Hertencia Petersen, “Aunt T” of Akai Gurley and supporters demanding justice for her nephew and the family of Akai Gurley like his daughter, Akaila, and Akai’s mother, Sylvia Palmer. “THIS IS A MODERN DAY LYNCHING”. Everyday when you turn on the news it’s another one of our family being killed,, she said. “ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. Let the police department know that we are not going to take it anymore, YOU’RE NOT GOING TO SHUT US UP ANYMORE. United we stand, divided we fall, the crowd joined in.” “The system is trying to make it a race issue, IT’S NOT A RACE ISSUE, IT’S A HUMAN ISSUE. An Innocent life was taken and therefore, Ex police officer, Peter Liang, should be held accountable”. Hertencia went on to say that Peter Liang was trying to put the blame on the Police Dept training for his actions and not knowing CPR. She said that Peter Liang’s partner, Sean Landau, did not “fear for his life” and pull his gun out. The 2 officers were doing vertical patrol and not responding to a call. “Why would you have a weapon out in a dark stairwell? What happened to your flashlight? You could have used it. If you had used it Akai Gurley would be here today.” Then, Hertencia led the crowd into a call and response, “What do we want? Justice, When do we want it. Now!’

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Constance Malcolm,, the mother of Ramarley Graham, who was shot and killed by NYPD Officer Richard Haste. Mr. Graham, 18, was killed after officers in the narcotics unit spotted him on the street on Feb. 2, 2012, in the Wakefield neighborhood, thought he might be armed and followed him into his family’s home. Officer Haste fired one round at Mr. Graham, who was inside the second-floor bathroom. The teenager was not armed, officials said, and no gun was found at the scene. from a NY Times article dated March 10 2016
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Nicholas Heyward Sr. whose 13 year old son by the same name was also killed by NYPD Brian George in the Wyckoff Houses stairwell in 1994 speaking to News 12.
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Sister of Shantel Davis
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During the short march from 320 Jay Street to the McDonald’s on Fulton St. Mall where all across the country workers are fighting for $15 were organized since 0530 that morning who joined in the support of #JusticeForAkaiGurley a supporter holding Michelle Alexander’s The New Jim Crow
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A crowd of a couple of hundred including ABC News, News 12, FOX and others turned out for #JusticeForAkaiGurley at 320 Jay St Brooklyn on Thursday April 14th for what should have been the sentencing day of NYPD cop Peter Liang but, the date was pushed back a week due to “juror misconduct”.
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The supporters arrive at McDonalds at the Fulton Mall where workers all over the US protested demanding a living wage of $15. The workers showed up in support of #JusticeForAkaiGurley then the Akai Gurley supporters returned the favor.
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The Angry Pacifist holding sign reading the name of Akai Gurley among a group of police across the street from McDonald’s and the protest for $15 living wage on Thursday.
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A shot of demonstrators for Akai Gurley at the Fight for $15 protest at the McDonald’s at the Fulton Mall Brooklyn on Thursday.
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Close up of one of the signs being held up by a supporter for #JusticeForAkaiGurley at the Fight for $15 rally at the Fulton Mall on Thursday. In a letter written to judge Danny Chun by DA Ken Thompson, the DA recommended No Jail Time for NYPD cop Peter Liang after firing his gun in the stairwell of the Pink Houses in Brooklyn on Nov 20 2014 which ricocheted off the wall hitting Gurley in the chest killing him. Peter Liang didn’t administer CPR, he and his partner argued over whether or not to call it in for over 4 mins while Akai Gurley lie in a pool of blood and urine on the 5th floor landing. Melissa Butler, friend of Akai, administered CPR while Peter Liang searched for his bullet casing and called his Union Rep.

The sentencing is now scheduled for April 19th. Juror Vargas also told judge Chun that he didn’t have any “close family” who had been accused of a crime. But Vargas reportedly told a different judge earlier that same day that his father spent time in jail. The juror has defended himself against accusations from Liang’s legal team — asserting that he doesn’t know, if anything, about his father’s conviction due to their estranged relationship.

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About Cat Watters

Cat Watters is a journalist, blogger, videographer, photographer and radio host on Peoples Internet Radio. She is an expert at photographing, filming and editing footage of street protests, street actions, political rallies, and other events. Cat writes for Democracy Chronicles from Brooklyn, New York and you can tune in to her radio show at Peoples Internet Radio every Tuesday from 6 to 8pm EST.

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