# Justice for Liang Common Talking Points to Media

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# Justice for Liang_Media Talking Points

# Justice for Liang

Common Talking Points to Media          2016/02/17  上午

请大家注意：参与游行者禁止带中国国旗，可以带美国国旗和加拿大国旗





总策略（没时间看具体问答的请看分割线以上部分就好）

持续表达几点中心思想（见下）。不知道的问题不要乱答，不要跟着别人的问话走，可以把话题绕回来(见示范）。

对记者要客气尊重，切忌不是律师老学律师说话。内容要具体化， 口语化，个人化。

最好统一一个诉求列表，有什么需求大胆提，不要自我审查[a]。

示范：

I didn’t say that, I am saying…

It is not about (记者的提问的角度 e.g. Asian vs. America)， it is about （我们想要的观点 e.g. “it‘s about people  vs. bureaucracy” “It’s about sacrificing individuals to cover the problem of a corrupted system” ).

There is no way I could know what exactly happened in that dark staircase. However, I do know Liang as a person, he is (插入他是一个好人对各种细节)  There is no reason for me to believe that he would….

I cannot answer that question but I do know xxx

关键是把我们想说的扩散出去！要说的具体点，切忌空喊口号。

  • All we want is justice for all, not selective justice.
  • Today we are standing for Asian minorities, but tomorrow if other people face the same kind of discrimination we’ll stand for them too. Someone has to stand up first, if not us, then who?
  • We strongly suspect that NYPD is playing structural racism; We won’t live with it and we want to bring this up to the people of all ethnicities.
  • We feel that Liang had faced extreme racial discrimination from the very beginning(since he was prosecuted).
  • I know Liang’s lawyer also strongly questioned the trial process. I couldn’t speak for him, but I can provide you the  contact information of the lawyer.

发言雷区 Points we should AVOID:

  • “Why white policeman walk away but Asians cannot” walk away听上去很不负责任。

Other Tips:

1 采访时主动给记者组织负责人的联系方式（统一一两个联系人和律师联系方式列在这里）。

2 采访后记得留记者的联系方式和名片，过后通知上线[c]。

3 记者在的时候镜头录音都是一直开着的，千万不要因为以为他不在问你话问别人了就掉以轻心说些私下才能说的话。

4 不要以为说中文就没有人懂, 说不定记者听得懂中文。

5 懵懂的时候不要乱说话，不要出现“You are right” “I totally agree with you” 这样的话，答不上来可以绕回去说自己想说的。

------------------------------------分割线------------------------------------------------------

我们基本是写的整句，方便大家理解，同时用下划线标出了重要信息，方便快速浏览。

Q1: What happened?

  • NYPD officer Liang, along with another rookie officer, was assigned to patrol the Pink House, one of “the most dangeroushousing projects in the city.” It was pitch-dark with no light.
  • His gun accidentally discharged as he opened the door. The bullet bounced off a wall and unfortunately causedGurley’s death.
  • Liang was convicted of second-degree manslaughter and is facing up to 15 years in jail.

Q2: Why is the conviction problematic?

  • The court and NYPD used double standards and Peter was singled out. Considering NYPD’s past behaviours and how they treated Peter, NYPD made him a scapegoat.[d]
  • He was made a scapegoat for previous police brutality. Liang is the only one who  accidentally used a weapon but ended up being indicted.
  • This case shows structural racism and selective prosecutions  which affects everyone. If these problems are not addressed, minority police officers will always be singled out.  We hope all police officers will be in better situations in the future.
  • 具体证据：【 1) Officer Liang‘s case was an obvious accident  but white officers in previous cases that were serious walked away (For example, , policeman Wilson, shot 12 rounds at Michael Brown as he was running away, but Wilson walked away.)
  • 2) Officer Liang didn’t even see Gurley before firing (In previous vase: Loehmann, who shot a 12-year-old black boy [put the name here] with a fake gun to death under the daylight.) 】
  • 我觉得这部分怎么写有待商榷，这样写就好像在说“白人跑了我们干嘛不能跑”，感觉黑人会被气死。如果写白人警官收到了更多的法律援助得以脱罪或者如果不是白人警察之前犯下的一系列错误导致警局面对公众压力梁不会被起诉可能更好。
[e]

Q3: Why are you protesting today? What is your goal?

We demand justice for Liang and justice for all.

We believe officer Liang was subjected to selective prosecutions.

The recent increasing tension in police-community relations made Liang a scapegoat for previous police brutality.

We feel deeply sorry for Mr.Gurley and his family.

 Accountability is in order. However, Liang’s conviction was a clear signal of selective prosecutions. We object to the systemcovering up racial injustice with more racial injustice without addressing the real issue.

We demand accountability from NYPD for its irresponsible patrol assignments, poor training of    

            officers, and its lack of support for its probationary officers. 

  • Goal: 这个还在跟全国统一协商；各城市可以灵活回答。（这个才是重点，还可以说不达目的不下街什么的）

Q4: Are you saying this was an accident and Liang was innocent?

  • I believe so (你可以说你相信如此，没有legal问题). I believe both Gurley and Liang are victims. Gurley’s death is an innocent death, Liang’s trail is an injustice trail. Throwing one untrained officer under the bus is not going to cover the problem in NYPD. NYPD is accountable, not a rookie policeman.

如果记者紧追问，使用下面回答：

  • Peter Liang is a good person. He is only[put his age here]. He is a good son. The reason why he decided to become a police officer is to protect the community. His career choice was made when he was a little five-year-old child.  His mother was robbed one day and he told his mother: “I want to be police officer to protect you and other mothers when I grow up.”  That’s exactly what he did. He spoke two languages and he was very sensitive to needs of different communities. Now he is failed by NYPD and abandoned in such a tragedy. He was fighting alone with little support.
  • Liang is extremely remorseful  for what happened. His subtle expression of remorse, influenced by his Asian background, has been unfairly mis-portrayed by the media as being unsympathetic.

Q5: Who do you think should be responsible for the death of Akai Gurley?

  • I think NYPD is responsible and the housing authorities who failed to maintain the lighting and curb the crime are responsible.
  • I am greatly troubled that Officer Peter Liang has been made a scapegoat for the failings of many others in the government and the NYPD.
  • If you look at all cases involving police-induced fatalities before, Liang’s case is the only accident but ended up being the only one indicted. He is racially discriminated.

Q6:What should nypd be held accountable for?

  • We would like to hold NYPD accountable.
  • They should have provided adequate training for their policemen.
  • They should have paired inexperienced police officer with experienced ones.
  • They should have offered sufficient support for its probationary officers.
  • There are all the systematic problems that are out there. If these problems are not addressed, similar tragedies could happen again. What’s the point of throwing out Liang for temporary appeasement? Who’s gonna be the next scapegoat of beauracracy？

Q7: What is your next step?

  • We are having people rallying and marching in many cities, demanding justice. We the Asian American Community[f]won’t be silent any more. We are demanding justice and equal treatment. We are fundraising for Liang because he and his families need both spiritual and economic support. He and his families have unfairly suffered tremendous pain.  
  • 各城市具体的行动方案。

Q8: Do you protest for the right of Asian Americans?

  • We protest for the right of human being. In this case it happens to be an Asian police officer. If selective justice wins this time, anyone could be the next scapegoat, regardless of his/her race.

Q9:Why didn’t many Asians show up in previous protests while you rally today for this Asian guy?

  • It has to start somewhere. Rallying for one’s own ethnicity is a natural trigger for all civil movements in American history. But once we mobilized we won’t be silent any more. We will ally with other groups who are also suffering structural racism and fight for a better future of this nation.  

Q10: Are you American? Why do you care about our judicial or  juridical system?(BTW they won’t ask the second half)

  • I live in this country so I depend on the justice system here to protect me and my property. Everyone in the country deserves equal treatment and social justice. We care because we want to make this country better!