
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — Philadelphia was among 40 different cities today where thousands of Chinese-Americans gathered to protest the manslaughter conviction of Peter Liang, the former New York City cop who accidentally shot and killed a man on the job in 2014.
Liang was a rookie cop on patrol with another rookie cop in a dangerous part of Brooklyn. He accidentally fired one round that ricocheted off a wall in a dark stairwell and it killed Akai Gurley.
READ MORE: Business Owner Hopes Philadelphia's Penn’s Landing Stays Safe Following Triple Shooting That Injured 3 Teenagers“We would like to pledge for leniency,” said Nancy Zhang, who was among the many who helped organize the rallies. “He may be facing 15 years in prison, in a tragic accident.”
Protesters say the NYPD is to blame because Officer Liang should have been learning from a veteran cop.
READ MORE: Marple Township Police Asking For Public's Help To Find Missing Businessman“We feel the trial was unfair, from the prosecutor to the whole system.”
Others think Liang was made a scapegoat for other police involved deaths that happened previously.
“It happened after those other…Michael Brown’s tragedy. It happened after Eric Garner’s tragedy, and those are very different events.”
MORE NEWS: Philadelphia School District's Mask Mandate Goes Back Into Effect On Monday As COVID-19 Cases RiseChinese-Americans are asking for leniency ahead of Liang’s sentencing hearing in April.