What are we fighting for? White Privilege or Racial Justice in the death of Akai Gurley

Guest Post by OiYan Poon



Second-degree manslaughter. Manslaughter is legally defined as an "unintentional homicide from criminally negligent or reckless conduct. It can also refer to an unintentional killing through commission of a crime other than a felony."

As I witness fellow Chinese Americans, including family, protest former NYPD officer Peter Liang's manslaughter conviction in the death of Akai Gurley, I struggle to make sense of it all.

Family elders tell me to have compassion for Liang. "It was an accident. He was a rookie cop. Don't lump him together with bad cops. The bullet bounced off the wall and into Gurley's body," they say. They question why white officers like Darren Wilson and Daniel Pantaleo, who killed unarmed African Americans like Michael Brown in Ferguson and Eric Garner in New York City, get to walk free. "Liang is being used by a racist system as a scapegoat for bad policing," they say.

On the specifics of the case, I disagree with my elders. Liang unintentionally shot Akai Gurley, the father of a 2 year-old girl, but then did not try to save his life, and called his supervisor instead of an ambulance. His reckless behavior fits the definition of manslaughter.

While my elders believe Liang should not have been convicted in the death of Akai Gurley, I disagree that Liang should be granted the same unjust immunity that white officers have received in the killings of unarmed Black men. Liang is not the only police officer who has taken an innocent life, and he should not be the only one held accountable for doing so. Those who are angered by the double standard between how the state holds white and Chinese American officers accountable must fight in solidarity with African Americans and other people of color to transform a broken justice system.

I am surprised by my elders' sudden political engagement, and have so many questions.

Open Letter from AAPIs calls for #justiceforakaigurley

More than 50 AAPI groups release letter supporting justice for Akai Gurley and indictment of Officer Peter Liang



More than fifty Asian American and Pacific Islander groups from around the country have signed on to an open letter, organized by CAAAV, calling for justice in the fatal police shooting of Akai Gurley, an unarmed, Black, 28-year-old father who was killed by NYPD Officer Peter Liang last fall. The letter follows calls coming from some members of the Asian American community to drop charges against Liang.

Officer Liang was conducting a vertical patrol on November 20, 2014 in the Louis H. Pink Houses in East New York when he fired a shot that killed Gurley, who was visiting the home of his girlfriend.

The letter has been signed by AAPI community organizations and leaders representing diverse constituencies across all regions of the United States, calling for "#JusticeforAkaiGurley and for the systemic overhaul of policing practices and other institutional policies that chronically defund and destabilize Black communities."

The letter also condemns calls from members of the Asian American community for the charges against Officer Liang dropped. CAAAV Executive Director Cathy Dang calls these efforts "divisive, hurtful, and misguided."

"We should all be standing with Akai's family, who have lost a beloved brother, son, and father, and should be fighting to reform policing practices so that more families won't have to suffer the pain they are going through."

Here's the text of the letter:

Sign on for police accountability and #JusticeforAkaiGurley

CAAAV's national open letter calls on Asian American support for police shooting victim.



CAAAV, a grassroots community organization that fights for poor and working class Asian immigrant and refugee communities in New York City, has drafted a national open letter supporting justice for Akai Gurley and calling for Officer Peter Liang to be held accountable for Gurley's shooting death last November.

They're calling on APA organizations and individuals to stand with them and sign on to the letter to show that there is support in the Asian American community for #JusticeforAkaiGurley and for the broader national movement against police violence.

Here's the text of the open letter: