Barron said, the trial even shown that it “couldn’t have been an accident because you needed a certain amount of pressure to pull the trigger. Referring to Peter Liang, Charles Barron went on to say, “He didn’t even have enough courtesy, enough human sensitivity, a police officer, to apply CPR. MELISSA had to apply the CPR”, putting his arm around Melissa Butler as she began to cry. “and he can’t tell us that he didn’t know how to do CPR, he went for training. MELISSA DIDN’T KNOW HOW TO DO CPR. HOW DARE YOU KEN THOMPSON.”

Charles Barron then went on to list some good things done by DA Ken Thompson, then went on to say “TODAY, ALL YOUR GOOD IS WHIPPED OUT. WE WILL NOT FORGET THIS because you’re sending a signal to people across the country, A BLACK MAN DOESN’T THINK BLACK LIVES MATTER. To DA Ken Thompson, Barron said, “Your hypocrisy is just a recommendation”, then called for judge Daniel Chun to “Do the Right Thing”.

Barron then brought up the fact that Football player Michael Vick received 3 years in jail for his involvement in dog fighting on his property. “ARE YOU SAYING THAT OUR LIVES ARE NOT MORE IMPORTANT THAN A DOG’S LIFE?” Then Barron spoke about how the people have been doing Peaceful actions and protests and “They’re not hearing us”. He said, “DON’T MAKE US BRING FERGUSON TO NYC”, referring to the uprising that occurred in Ferguson after the killing of Michael Brown by Ferguson Police, Darren Wilson. “It seems as though the only thing this country understands is when we tear it down. Don’t blame me”, Barron said.

People in the streets are saying an Eye for an Eye, a Tooth for a tooth and a Life for a Life. Then, Barron brought up Rev Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, the “Prince of Peace, RIOTS ARE THE VOICE OF THE UNHEARD. Am I saying that we should be violent?” Barron asked. “THE SYSTEM WILL DETERMINE THAT. You can’t keep having the people go through peaceful means, and you ignore them, THEN VIOLENCE IS INEVITABLE”.

Where is the justice for Akai Gurley’s mother? How can you look a mother in the eyes and say, you’ll do everything possible to get justice for her son and turn around and recommend No Jail Time? YOU’RE JUST AS GUILTY AS IF YOU PULLED THE TRIGGER”. Hertencia went on to say that Liang knew family members lived there when he went into the stairwell that dreadful night. “WHEN WILL POLICE BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE? Is this the legacy you will be leading? WE TRUSTED YOU, WE HAD HOPE that you would do what you said you would do. YOU HOODWINKED US. HOW DARE YOU LET MEMBERS OF THE PRESS AND SOCIAL MEDIA KNOW FIRST.

HOW DARE YOU, KEN THOMPSON, SELL YOURSELF TO THE DEVIL” Hertencia called DA Ken Thompson a disgrace and a traitor. She brought up the date of December 2015 when Thompson told Akai Gurley’s mother that “he would do what he need to do”. “You got an indictment and you’re secretly writing a letter to the judge for leniency? Had it been Akai Gurley shooting Peter Liang he would not be on bail, HE WOULD HAVE GOTTEN THE MAX, 15 years. ALL THE FAMILY WANTED FROM DAY 1 WAS FOR PETER LIANG TO BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE, IS THAT TOO HARD? YOU SOLD US OUT.”

The friends of Nicholas said Nicholas dropped the toy gun after NYPD Brian George said to them, “what are you all doing here?” and Heyward replied, “We’re only playing, we’re only playing” and was shot in the stomach and died later. Mr Heyward began by professing his disappointment in DA Ken Thompson because just a couple of weeks earlier, I filmed the press conference at this exact spot on the re opening the case of Nicholas Heyward Jr. by DA Ken Thompson.

Nicholas Heyward Sr. was filled with hope at the idea that his son’s case was going to be looked into and, although documents were missing and there were no case numbers on the documents that did exist which implied a cover up by then, DA Charley Hynes, Ken Thompson was going to start from scratch using the replica plastic toy gun that Heyward Jr was playing with in the stairwell which had a brightly colored orange tip, making it impossible to confuse it with a real gun.

“For Ken Thompson to recommend No Jail time is uncivilized and it makes no sense at all. Peter Liang was convicted by a jury of law. How you can not get jail time is beyond me”. Nicholas Heyward Sr. expressed real hope in Ken Thompson bringing real justice to Brooklyn in looking into his son’s case. Now, my hopes of getting any type of justice for my son, I feel like it’s going no where”. “WHEN THAT COP REMOVED HIS GUN FROM HIS HOLSTER, PULLED THE TRIGGER, WHAT DO YOU THINK HIS INTENTIONS WERE? What did he think was going to happen? A bullet is going to come out of there and bullets kill innocent lives?”

“Melissa Butler demonstrated courage”, said attorney Roger Wareham outside 350 Jay St yesterday in front of DA Ken Thompson’s office after hearing about him recommending leniency for NYPD cop Peter Liang who was convicted by a jury of 2nd degree manslaughter. “She stayed with Akai, she didn’t run out of the building. She applied CPR, which she had never done, to Akai. Liang said he was in shock, that’s why he didn’t do it, and hadn’t been trained. That didn’t stop Melissa Butler”, while Melissa Butler hid her face in her hand and into the side of Mr. Wareham’s coat, tears streaming down her face.

“Melissa is a very shy person, yet she came to court to give the testimony that led to the conviction of Peter Laing. When we found out yesterday that the DA recommended no Jail time, Melissa’s reaction was, “IT WAS ALL FOR NOTHING”, Melissa crying in his side. “MELISSA’S COURAGE HAS TO BE JUXTAPOSED TO THE LACK OF COURAGE BY THE DA”. Wareham uses a football analogy where Thompson is about to make the winning touchdown, but, stops to throw the ball out of bounds, “IT’S A FAILURE OF COURAGE. I’ve practiced criminal law for almost a quarter of a century, “THIS SYSTEM WOULD BREAK DOWN IF EVERYONE EXERCISED THEIR RIGHT TO TRIAL. So they offer plea bargains but, people who go to trial know, IF YOU GO TO TRIAL AND YOU LOSE, THEY’RE GOING TO GIVE YOU JAIL TIME. THEY DO THAT BECAUSE THEY DON’T WANT PEOPLE TO EXERCISE THEIR RIGHT TO TRIAL. They want YOU to pay for having put them through the expense and time of going to trial. This is true for E felony, much less C felony where LIANG WOULD HAVE BEEN LOOKING AT UP TO 15 YEARS IN JAIL”. Thompson said, This is a Unique case” – Wareham.

Putting ‘unique’ around it does not make it any different than the exercising the double standard that always exist when cops are accused of violating people’s rights, murdering them, assaulting them, which is why it continues. Cops always knew that YOU CAN DO ANYTHING IN A BLACK AND BROWN COMMUNITY AND YOU”RE NOT GOING TO BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE.” “ANYBODY ELSE WHO COMMITTED THIS CRIME WOULD BE GOING TO JAIL”. Wareham talked about the jury who picked up the gun and found how much force needed to be exerted in order to pull the trigger.

Video of the press conference can be seen at April Watters YouTube, No Jail Time for Peter Liang, Violence is Inevitable. The Family is Asking the public for it’s support and to come out for the sentencing of Peter Liang at 0900 April 14th at 320 Jay St Brooklyn to see that Peter Liang is held accountable.