Former New York Police Officer Peter Liang will not serve time behind bars for killing an innocent, unarmed black man in 2014 in a case that drew passionate allegations of racial injustice from both African American and Asian American protesters.
A Brooklyn judge on Tuesday ordered Liang to serve five years probation and complete 800 hours of community service, saying the Chinese American rookie cop never intended to shoot, let alone kill, Akai Gurley while patrolling a dark stairwell in a Brooklyn housing project with his gun drawn.
Liang was convicted in February of manslaughter and official misconduct for firing a shot that ricocheted off a wall and struck Gurley, standing a floor below, in the heart.
Liang faced up to 15 years in prison, but a Brooklyn prosecutor requested that the former officer receive no prison time, and on Tuesday, Judge Danny Chun called the shooting an accident.
