这些是我们波士顿的义工为周末游行写的一些talking points，万一遇到媒体采访或路人发问，大家知道如何应对。欢迎外地用。游行时大家务必注意安全， stay safe, stay united!
What happened?
Officer Liang, along with another rookie officer, were assigned to patrol the NYCHA's Louis H. Pink Houses, one of “the most dangerous projects in the city, and their stairwells are the most dangerous places in the projects”. The 28-year-old, unarmed Akai Gurley was visiting his girlfriend, and entered the stairwell about a flight below the officers, who were patrolling the pitch-dark stairwell with no lights. Startled by the sound of a slamming metal door, Liang's gun accidentally discharged as he opened the door and the bullet ricocheted off the wall and struck Gurley once in the chest, unfortunately through his heart and eventually caused his death. Officer Liang was convicted second-degree manslaughter on Feb. 10th.
What are we protesting?
We think that Officer Liang is used as a scapegoat for political correctness and police brutality. In the wake of so many unfortunate deaths of unarmed black men, some cops gotta hang. NYPD threw out Officer Liang as he had never been one of them, because it’s just easier to hang an Asian, because Asians, they don’t speak up!
We feel terribly sorry about what has happened to Gurley and his family, and to the black community at large. Certainly accountability is in order. However, sentencing Officer Liang to 15 years of life serves neither as a corrective for racial profiling nor police brutality. He didn’t intentionally shoot at Gurley. He fired once and the bullet hit the wall first, not like the White policeman Wilson, who shot 12 rounds at Michael Brown as he was running away. And Officer Liang didn’t even see Gurley before firing, not to mention noticing Gurley’s skin color, not like the White policeman Loehmann, who shot a 12-year-old black boy with a fake gun to death under the daylight where the color of his skin had definitely played a role. Officer Liang was rightly tried and some consequence, including relieving him of being an active duty officer, is in order. But 15 years? For those who say this has nothing to do with race, the lens here is that certain cops, particularly minority cops, are being overzealously prosecuted as a gesture to right the wrongs of others. The system is merely covering up racial injustice with some more racial injustice. What we should call into question are the NYPD’s poor training of its policemen, terrible decisions for rookies to partner and patrol the most dangerous areas, and its lack of support for its probationary officers when accidents happen.
Why is the conviction unjustified?
The NYPD’s policy on whether an officer should keep a weapon holstered on such patrols is purposely vague and the decision as to when to take a firearm out is left to the discretion of the officers. However, one of the reasons for Liang’s conviction is that, he had the gun withdrawn and his finger was on the trigger. However, the NYPD also prohibits the use of chokeholds, and Officer Pantaleo choked Eric Garner to death. What happened to Pantaleo? Nothing. He walked away without an indictment, all the while NYPD insisted that the police didn’t use chokeholds despite of the conclusion from the medical examiner. Another reason for Liang’s conviction is that he didn’t perform CPR on Gurley after what happened. In Eric Garner’s case, the four White officers didn’t perform CPR either after Garner collapsed. According to a spokesman for the PBA, this was because they believed that Garner was breathing and that it would be “improper” (and I quote) to perform CPR on someone who was still breathing. They also walked away without an indictment. Does this sound race really had nothing to do with Liang’s conviction? Certainly not to us! That’s why we’re here. We’re here to demand justice for all!
What happened?
Officer Liang, along with another rookie officer, were assigned to patrol the NYCHA's Louis H. Pink Houses, one of “the most dangerous projects in the city, and their stairwells are the most dangerous places in the projects”. The 28-year-old, unarmed Akai Gurley was visiting his girlfriend, and entered the stairwell about a flight below the officers, who were patrolling the pitch-dark stairwell with no lights. Startled by the sound of a slamming metal door, Liang's gun accidentally discharged as he opened the door and the bullet ricocheted off the wall and struck Gurley once in the chest, unfortunately through his heart and eventually caused his death. Officer Liang was convicted second-degree manslaughter on Feb. 10th.
What are we protesting?
We think that Officer Liang is used as a scapegoat for political correctness and police brutality. In the wake of so many unfortunate deaths of unarmed black men, some cops gotta hang. NYPD threw out Officer Liang as he had never been one of them, because it’s just easier to hang an Asian, because Asians, they don’t speak up!
We feel terribly sorry about what has happened to Gurley and his family, and to the black community at large. Certainly accountability is in order. However, sentencing Officer Liang to 15 years of life serves neither as a corrective for racial profiling nor police brutality. He didn’t intentionally shoot at Gurley. He fired once and the bullet hit the wall first, not like the White policeman Wilson, who shot 12 rounds at Michael Brown as he was running away. And Officer Liang didn’t even see Gurley before firing, not to mention noticing Gurley’s skin color, not like the White policeman Loehmann, who shot a 12-year-old black boy with a fake gun to death under the daylight where the color of his skin had definitely played a role. Officer Liang was rightly tried and some consequence, including relieving him of being an active duty officer, is in order. But 15 years? For those who say this has nothing to do with race, the lens here is that certain cops, particularly minority cops, are being overzealously prosecuted as a gesture to right the wrongs of others. The system is merely covering up racial injustice with some more racial injustice. What we should call into question are the NYPD’s poor training of its policemen, terrible decisions for rookies to partner and patrol the most dangerous areas, and its lack of support for its probationary officers when accidents happen.
Why is the conviction unjustified?
The NYPD’s policy on whether an officer should keep a weapon holstered on such patrols is purposely vague and the decision as to when to take a firearm out is left to the discretion of the officers. However, one of the reasons for Liang’s conviction is that, he had the gun withdrawn and his finger was on the trigger. However, the NYPD also prohibits the use of chokeholds, and Officer Pantaleo choked Eric Garner to death. What happened to Pantaleo? Nothing. He walked away without an indictment, all the while NYPD insisted that the police didn’t use chokeholds despite of the conclusion from the medical examiner. Another reason for Liang’s conviction is that he didn’t perform CPR on Gurley after what happened. In Eric Garner’s case, the four White officers didn’t perform CPR either after Garner collapsed. According to a spokesman for the PBA, this was because they believed that Garner was breathing and that it would be “improper” (and I quote) to perform CPR on someone who was still breathing. They also walked away without an indictment. Does this sound race really had nothing to do with Liang’s conviction? Certainly not to us! That’s why we’re here. We’re here to demand justice for all!
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