True Justice for all people
RR-101459 02/17 71164.7/3
Today our Asian American Community rally to show the deepest condolences to Akai Gurley and his family. His death was certainly a tragedy which broke the hearts of his bereaved family and African American community. Our hearts are with them! In the meantime, we are equally saddened and deeply concerned by the selective and unjust prosecution of Peter Liang, a formal NYPD officer, who is made the scapegoat of the systematic derelict of NYPD as well as the selective prosecution which are incapable of seriously addressing the long-standing distrust and tension between minority society and law enforcement force.
Peter Liang, a young man full of aspiration to serve the country and to help make New York City a better and safer place as a law enforcement officer, was deployed to patrol one of the highly dangerous areas without adequate training, experience and support. Evidences tell that the shooting of Akai Gurleye was a pure tragical accident which was not the intention of Liang. Looking back in history for similar or even more sensitive cases where African American community was furious at the killing by police officer, we hardly see any prosecution as such. Liang is not criminal! We simply don't believe that sacrificing Liang is the correct way to resolve systematic problem beneath the surface. We simply don't believe justice is served by finding a scapegoat. We simply don't believe selective prosecution is in line with the spirit of this great country since her birth, and we simply don't believe all these political operations in judicial arena are convening to us that this country is still upholding the same values we all believe and appreciate under one nation: Justice for all means Justice to everyone!
It is heartbreaking that innocent Akai Gurley died in the tragical accident. It is unfair that formal NYPD office Peter Liang was victimized to ease the police-community tension. It is a shame that NYPD dodges the true responsibility it should shoulder, and it is a serious concern that the legal process smells more like political balance by sacrificing another minority.
There is definitely something deeper that roots underneath. True Justice won't trump unless we collectively reveal it, face it and put honest effort to eradicate it . We are thus now calling for all people and groups who love this country because of the commonly shared value of and same pursuit for justice and freedom to stand behind Akai Gurley and Peter Liang, and get united to say NO to political manipulation, selective prosecution, and scapegoating.
Scapegoating Liang is not doing justice to Gurley! Justice to Liang is true Justice to all! We fight for Gurley's Justice, we fight for Liang's Justice, and we fight for the true Justice for all people regardless of color!