从来没有在海外见到这么多的华人! 有老有少、从各个方向、来自社会各个阶层、操着各种口音的华人们汇集纽约布鲁克林市中心公园广场。 我和几位从未谋面的华人朋友在微信相识，一起拼车开往纽约。 下了车走不远就看到一队队我们的同胞们举着标语从各个方向汇集过来。 一辆辆载满华人的大巴从纽约的长岛，新泽西等各个方向驶来, 为的都是同一个目标：为Peter Liang讨个公道，为争取华裔在美的平等权益发出自己的呐喊！
到了公园发现已经人山人海，场面让人震撼。 我们举着准备好的标语加入到沸腾的人群中。 有华裔和其它族裔的议员发表演讲，大家此起彼伏地跟着高声喊着口号“Justice for all” “No Scapegoating”…..,呐喊的声音响彻云霄！
有一二十个非裔打着Black lives matter在街对过儿呛声，of course, black lives matter, justice and fair trial to Peter Liang also matters!
从89学运到抗议杀光中国人的游行再到今日的集会，这是我一生中第三次参加抗议游行活动了，而我来美国前从来没有想过在这片土地上生活了近二十后，人到中年的我还会一次又一次走上街头，为的却是抗议我们华裔在美受到不平等的对待，受到媒体、政治和司法的欺负，成了他们随意打压玩捏的对象。 如果此时再不发声，我们的族裔还有希望吗？
美国是个崇尚自由民主平等的国家，这么多年来我越来越明白，这些民主自由平等不是免费的、不是从天而降的，是要靠自己去争取的。 你不去争取你就永远是loser， 永远是outsider，永远被这个社会所忽略所打压。
我向所有参加游行示威的同胞们致敬！ 向关心帮助Peter Liang和踊跃为他捐款的同胞们致敬！从今以后请不要再对我说中国人是一盘散沙，如今这盘散沙已经灌入水泥筑成坚实的混凝土了！ 我爱你们！
United We Stand, Divided We Fall！
On the vast lawn of the plaza near the courthouse in Brooklyn where Peter Liang, a former New York City police officer, was convicted in the fatal shooting of an unarmed black man just over a week ago, a crowd of several thousand people gathered on Saturday.
They chanted, “No scapegoat! No scapegoat!” and carried signs bearing the same message. Some said they had never had a reason to protest before, while others said they had taken the day off from work or had come by train and bus from across the city — or as far as New Jersey and Connecticut — to take part in the demonstration at Cadman Plaza Park to show their support for Officer Liang.
Prosecutors had described Officer Liang’s behavior as reckless when he fired his gun inside a public housing complex, and argued that after the man, Akai Gurley, had been shot, the officer seemed more concerned about his career than in helping Mr. Gurley, who was 28.
Yet Officer Liang’s conviction has gripped many in the city’s Chinese-American community, who believe that he had been targeted for prosecution because of his race. They followed the case closely and have been denouncing the jury’s verdict, arguing that Officer Liang, 28, was a victim himself.
Supporters of Officer Liang noted the strained relationship between the police and African-Americans across the country, after a string of incidents in which unarmed black men were killed by officers, many of whom were never charged.
Officer Liang, in their view, was the one who had to pay the price. One of the printed announcements for the rally read, “In the wake of so many unfortunate deaths of unarmed black men, some cops gotta hang.” The evidence against Officer Liang, his supporters contend, did not seem as clear-cut compared to the cases of other officers who have not been prosecuted. Some also believed that the gunfire had been an accidental discharge.
“All the policemen have no punishment for all they did,” said Tommy Shi, 30, who lives in Manhattan and works in a restaurant. “Peter Liang is a scapegoat for all this.” He added: “That’s why we stand for Peter Liang.”
On Feb. 11, Officer Liang was found guilty of manslaughter in the killing of Mr. Gurley on Nov. 20, 2014, while he was on a so-called vertical patrol inside a stairwell at the Louis H. Pink Houses, a public housing complex in the East New York neighborhood of Brooklyn. Officer Liang, who is scheduled to be sentenced on April 14, faces up to 15 years in prison.
The officer slumped in his seat after the jury’s decision was announced, and those feelings of defeat were mirrored by many in the city’s Chinese-American community. In the weeks since then, that sentiment has hardened and spread beyond New York.
The case has been debated in Chinese-language social media groups, and online fund-raisers have been organized to support Officer Liang and his family. On Saturday, demonstrators planned to assemble next to the Washington Monument in the nation’s capital, outside city halls in Orlando and Philadelphia and inside Balboa Park in San Diego.
Gary Wu helped organize a rally in Las Vegas. “What happened there, it seems like an accident,” Mr. Wu, 37, said. “It was a tragedy. We also feel very sorry for the loss of the life of Mr. Gurley, but convicting one of the officers is not fair to the officer.”
Their argument has been met with resistance, both outside and within the Asian-American community, and Saturday’s rally in Brooklyn was met by a counterprotest.
Soraya Sui Free, 44, a nurse from the Bronx, stood on a median on Cadman Plaza West with a group holding signs with a photograph of Mr. Gurley and the message “Jail Killer Cops.” She criticized the argument, put forth by some of the signs, that Officer Liang was also a victim.
“Where is the empathy?” she said. “Peter Liang made a decision for Akai Gurley, and that decision was to die.”
An organization founded in the 1980s to confront rising violence faced by Asians, now known as Caaav, has supported Mr. Gurley’s family, a move that has drawn threats and harassment. On Friday, a letter signed by dozens of community organizations and elected officials condemned the targeting of the organization.
Even if the reaction to Officer Liang’s conviction has stirred animosity, some have embraced the moment, viewing it as a sign that a community perceived by some as unwilling to stand up to authority would mobilize.
“It’s time that everybody wakes up,” said Jerry Chan, a Brooklyn resident and part of the Coalition of Asian-Americans for Civil Rights, which organized the rally. “Enough is enough. It’s time we should get the same treatment, the same respect, as everyone else.”
Thomas Ong, who retired in 1999 as a detective from the New York Police Department after 20 years of service, said that when he became a police officer the department struggled to forge a relationship with Chinese-American residents.
“You should call 911 if you have a problem,” Mr. Ong, now a private investigator, said. “They had to be taught that, because they come from a society that didn’t promote that kind of interaction.”
Mr. Ong, 64, said the rally demonstrated the progress that has been made over the past three decades, as members of the community saw their relatives and friends joining the force. But Officer Liang’s prosecution also reaffirmed lingering distrust.
“This movement, this community reaction, it won’t be a Million Man March — it’s not that,” Mr. Ong said. “It is representative of Asian-Americans willing to take time away from their daily lives, to step up and say we don’t like what’s going on.”
