{"id":31909,"date":"2016-02-24T09:47:41","date_gmt":"2016-02-24T15:47:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?p=31909"},"modified":"2016-02-24T09:47:41","modified_gmt":"2016-02-24T15:47:41","slug":"one-bullet-two-victims-protesters-rally-for-convicted-nypd-officer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/one-bullet-two-victims-protesters-rally-for-convicted-nypd-officer\/","title":{"rendered":"One bullet, two victims: Protesters rally for convicted NYPD officer"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Shanshan Wang<\/strong><\/p>\n

Thousands of people, mostly Chinese-Americans, marched in downtown Chicago\u00a0Saturday, calling\u00a0justice\u00a0for former NYPD officer Peter Liang, who was convicted of manslaughter in the fatal shooting of a black man in 2014.<\/p>\n

The protesters chanted along the way, holding national flags, signs and banners with slogans conveying the message that selective justice is not justice, and that Liang is a scapegoat. Many of them have been following the news and sharing the protest information on WeChat, the most popular social media platform among Chinese community.<\/p>\n

[vimeo 156475200 w=474]<\/p>\n

On Saturday, throngs of protesters, many from Chicago\u2019s Chinese American community, decried the guilty verdict in the police shooting trail of Peter Liang in New York. Liang was convicted of shooting Akai Gurley, an African American, in 2014 while on the job as a New York City cop. Many protesters said race is not an issue here and that their main appeal was to have justice in law. However, at least one black woman insisted black lives matter. (Yunfei Zhao \/ MEDILL)<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone should be the same,\u201d said Chen Lin, 46, who also brought her 7-year-old son to the protest. \u201cThis is selective prosecution. They didn\u2019t charge the white officials,\u201d \u201cI want [my son] to know about the case and to have an idea why it\u2019s necessary for us to stand up.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2014, rookie officer Liang fired a bullet that ricocheted off a wall, killing Akai Gurley, as Liang was conducting a vertical patrol in a Brooklyn housing project. The shooting drew attention of Black Lives Matter and other groups advocating for better treatment of black citizens by police. On Feb. 11, Liang was convicted of second-degree manslaughter and official misconduct. Liang faces up to 15 years in prison when he is sentenced on Apr. 14.<\/p>\n

Convicting a police officer for manslaughter for killing someone in the line of duty rarely occurs. The verdict angered the Chinese-American community, which launched protests in more than 30 cities around the country.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are using this critical golden 30-day post-verdict proceedings to try to send a strong message to the judge that the verdict is absolutely wrong and unfair, so that he is not going to uphold the judgment on that verdict,\u201d said attorney Peter Y. Qiu, one of the protest organizers.<\/p>\n

Many in the Chinese-American community believe Liang\u2019s conviction is an overreaction to the larger issue of police violence across the nation. In his case, they say, the shooting was simply an accident.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think Chinese-Americans historically have been victimized many times. This is not the only case,\u201d said Lorac Chow, 72. \u201cThere [has] been a lot of gun violence. They have to get some police officer prosecuted.\u201d<\/p>\n

Qiu explained that the Liang verdict lacks evidentiary support. Only one bullet was fired, and it hit the wall first before ricocheting and hitting Gurley. In addition, Qiu added the shooting was an accident since Liang had no idea Gurley was entering the staircase. Liang\u2019s behavior was not reckless.<\/p>\n

Although rallies of such magnitude in the Chinese-American community are unprecedented, not all the opinions of onlookers favored Liang.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat people seem like they want today is a free pass for killing black folks,\u201d said 24-year-old Fresco Steez, who chanted \u2018black lives matter\u2019 to the protesters. \u201cNo one gets away with killing young black people. Police shouldn\u2019t be shooting their guns if there is no need.\u201d<\/p>\n

Most passersby were not familiar with the case and asked what the protest was about. Many of them said they had never seen such a large number of Chinese-Americans in Chicago so united for a cause.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am glad to see our community united in many different places in such a short time,\u201d said Cliff Zhonggang Li, the executive director of New Asian Leaders. \u201cIt will have positive effects in Chinese community. Before, we always said we are like \u2018yi pan san sha,\u2019 which means \u2018a bunch of sand.\u2019 We look similar but we really cannot work together. But it\u2019s really changing. And it\u2019s up to us to make the change.\u201d<\/p>\n

Protester Yeping Wang, 27, said she hoped the protest here and elsewhere in the nation will demonstrate that Chinese-Americans aren\u2019t always silent, but she added she thinks some protest slogans might lead to misunderstandings. \u201cWe should unite with the African-American community and keep the focus more on why white people get away every time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Photo at top: Protesters chant \u201cjustice for all\u201d in downtown Chicago, demanding justice for convicted former NYPD officer Peter Liang in the 2014 shooting death of Akai Gurley. (Shanshan Wang \/ MEDILL)<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Shanshan Wang Thousands of people, mostly Chinese-Americans, marched in downtown Chicago\u00a0Saturday, calling\u00a0justice\u00a0for former NYPD officer Peter Liang, who was convicted of manslaughter in the fatal shooting of a black man in 2014. The protesters chanted along the way, holding national flags, signs and banners with slogans conveying the message that selective justice is not […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":272,"featured_media":31814,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"video","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[675,585],"tags":[1633,1235,1642,1664,1634,742,1663,626,1637,1645],"class_list":["post-31909","post","type-post","status-publish","format-video","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-social-justice","category-winter-2016","tag-akai-gurley","tag-black-lives-matter","tag-chinese-american","tag-justice","tag-peter-liang","tag-police","tag-police-brutality","tag-protest","tag-verdict","tag-wechat","post_format-post-format-video"],"yoast_head":"\nOne bullet, two victims: Protesters rally for convicted NYPD officer - Medill Reports Chicago<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/one-bullet-two-victims-protesters-rally-for-convicted-nypd-officer\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"One bullet, two victims: Protesters rally for convicted NYPD officer - Medill Reports Chicago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Shanshan Wang Thousands of people, mostly Chinese-Americans, marched in downtown Chicago\u00a0Saturday, calling\u00a0justice\u00a0for former NYPD officer Peter Liang, who was convicted of manslaughter in the fatal shooting of a black man in 2014. The protesters chanted along the way, holding national flags, signs and banners with slogans conveying the message that selective justice is not […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/one-bullet-two-victims-protesters-rally-for-convicted-nypd-officer\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Medill Reports Chicago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-02-24T15:47:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/WP%20Media%20Folder%20-%20medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2016\/02\/IMG_1882.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1100\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"748\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"shanshanwang\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"shanshanwang\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/one-bullet-two-victims-protesters-rally-for-convicted-nypd-officer\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/one-bullet-two-victims-protesters-rally-for-convicted-nypd-officer\/\",\"name\":\"One bullet, two victims: Protesters rally for convicted NYPD officer - Medill Reports Chicago\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/one-bullet-two-victims-protesters-rally-for-convicted-nypd-officer\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/one-bullet-two-victims-protesters-rally-for-convicted-nypd-officer\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/WP%20Media%20Folder%20-%20medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2016\/02\/IMG_1882.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-02-24T15:47:41+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/ba8ed205b1889565707d19a498c3a798\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/one-bullet-two-victims-protesters-rally-for-convicted-nypd-officer\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/one-bullet-two-victims-protesters-rally-for-convicted-nypd-officer\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/one-bullet-two-victims-protesters-rally-for-convicted-nypd-officer\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/WP%20Media%20Folder%20-%20medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2016\/02\/IMG_1882.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/WP%20Media%20Folder%20-%20medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2016\/02\/IMG_1882.jpg\",\"width\":1100,\"height\":748,\"caption\":\"Protesters chanted \u201cjustice for all\u201d in downtown Chicago, demanding a fair trial for former NYPD officer.\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/one-bullet-two-victims-protesters-rally-for-convicted-nypd-officer\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"One bullet, two victims: Protesters rally for convicted NYPD officer\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/\",\"name\":\"Medill Reports Chicago\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/ba8ed205b1889565707d19a498c3a798\",\"name\":\"shanshanwang\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/85d00e55ac46447bf6001eb946ad957bc7c4a273f1b0209cc2f2e1cade2a057e?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/85d00e55ac46447bf6001eb946ad957bc7c4a273f1b0209cc2f2e1cade2a057e?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"shanshanwang\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/author\/shanshanwang\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"One bullet, two victims: Protesters rally for convicted NYPD officer - Medill Reports Chicago","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/one-bullet-two-victims-protesters-rally-for-convicted-nypd-officer\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"One bullet, two victims: Protesters rally for convicted NYPD officer - Medill Reports Chicago","og_description":"By Shanshan Wang Thousands of people, mostly Chinese-Americans, marched in downtown Chicago\u00a0Saturday, calling\u00a0justice\u00a0for former NYPD officer Peter Liang, who was convicted of manslaughter in the fatal shooting of a black man in 2014. The protesters chanted along the way, holding national flags, signs and banners with slogans conveying the message that selective justice is not […]","og_url":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/one-bullet-two-victims-protesters-rally-for-convicted-nypd-officer\/","og_site_name":"Medill Reports Chicago","article_published_time":"2016-02-24T15:47:41+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1100,"height":748,"url":"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/WP%20Media%20Folder%20-%20medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2016\/02\/IMG_1882.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"shanshanwang","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"shanshanwang","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/one-bullet-two-victims-protesters-rally-for-convicted-nypd-officer\/","url":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/one-bullet-two-victims-protesters-rally-for-convicted-nypd-officer\/","name":"One bullet, two victims: Protesters rally for convicted NYPD officer - Medill Reports Chicago","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/one-bullet-two-victims-protesters-rally-for-convicted-nypd-officer\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/one-bullet-two-victims-protesters-rally-for-convicted-nypd-officer\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/WP%20Media%20Folder%20-%20medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2016\/02\/IMG_1882.jpg","datePublished":"2016-02-24T15:47:41+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/ba8ed205b1889565707d19a498c3a798"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/one-bullet-two-victims-protesters-rally-for-convicted-nypd-officer\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/one-bullet-two-victims-protesters-rally-for-convicted-nypd-officer\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/one-bullet-two-victims-protesters-rally-for-convicted-nypd-officer\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/WP%20Media%20Folder%20-%20medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2016\/02\/IMG_1882.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/WP%20Media%20Folder%20-%20medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2016\/02\/IMG_1882.jpg","width":1100,"height":748,"caption":"Protesters chanted \u201cjustice for all\u201d in downtown Chicago, demanding a fair trial for former NYPD officer."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/one-bullet-two-victims-protesters-rally-for-convicted-nypd-officer\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"One bullet, two victims: Protesters rally for convicted NYPD officer"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#website","url":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/","name":"Medill Reports Chicago","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/ba8ed205b1889565707d19a498c3a798","name":"shanshanwang","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/85d00e55ac46447bf6001eb946ad957bc7c4a273f1b0209cc2f2e1cade2a057e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/85d00e55ac46447bf6001eb946ad957bc7c4a273f1b0209cc2f2e1cade2a057e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"shanshanwang"},"url":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/author\/shanshanwang\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31909","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/272"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31909"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31909\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31814"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31909"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31909"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31909"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}