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3.28大费城反歧视游行集结号! 国会议员助阵! 市郊区华人携手, 周日见!

作者:Action4Asians
原载:费城生活攻略

【原编者按】:作为在费城运营十几年了的华文报纸和公众号,很多读者和粉丝都参加过我们参与报道的游行活动。十几年来编辑组目睹了费城华人在权益活动上奋争的历程。发现几次大规模游行活动的成功,都来自与筹备组的高效和刻意低调。他们之前可能没有多少交集,但因为世态不公,出于共同的信念自发组建一个团队。不求名不求利,连续一两周的无休止的开会和熬夜筹划来推动。活动搞完了,他们不吹捧自己的奉献,不在社团晚宴邀功,安静的回归各自繁忙的工作和家庭生活。

本周日3.28亚裔反歧视大游行的筹备组,就是这样的一个团队。

但很多媒体同仁担心,他们的低调和不求名利,他们和社团政治的不沾边,可能又会成为某些社团活动家拿来上演个人名利秀的投机机会。

为了保持游行的社区草根性质,这也促成了下面的这个声明。

组委会特别声明

本次3.28筹委会原本想以最低调的方式来筹备这次游行活动,以达到团结最多社群参与的效果。虽然得到了很多热心华人的积极响应,也引发了一些无必要的猜测。为了消除大家的疑虑,本组委会开会讨论后,作以下声明,并公布此次“328反歧视游行”筹委会成员名单。

本游行组委会不代表任何一个党派、不背书任何政治主张,不介入任何社团利益或冲突。筹办此次游行目的只有一个:团结和显示本地区亚裔力量、反对歧视、引起全社会对亚裔权益的关切和维护。

周日可能会下雨,但为亚裔社区争取权益,是一个风雨无阻的责任。组委会和接管这次游行的警局分队关于安全和次序做了充分对接,游行会按时进行,欢迎大家积极带领乡亲邻居参与。

组委会全体成员

2021年3月27日

筹委会由以下生活工作在大费城各地区多年的9位普通华人组成:

筹委会名单 328反歧视游行  等你来

曹宜谦 小企业主 Lower Merion, PA
程艳 小企业主 Lower Merion, PA
邬鸿铭 小企业主 Exton, PA
顾文 图书馆员 Cherry Hill, NJ
侯筱蕴 大学职员 Moorestown, NJ
江河 电子商务 King of Prussia, PA
梁捷 编程员 Chester Springs, PA
邵林 实验室仪器经营 Claymont, DE
杨椿 理财顾问 Exton, PA

受邀采访媒体 加入我们,就在明天!

6 ABC – 电台
CBS Philly
Philadelphia Inquirer 问询报

Al Dia – 最大拉丁裔报纸

Billy Penn

Courier Post

Fox 29

Korean Phila Times 韩国报纸

Metro Chinese/海华都市报

NBC 10

Philadelphia Sunday Sun

WHYY

Philadelphia Gay News
Uptown Radio (该广播电台已于3月26日与筹委会进行了连线live直播采访,组委会成员Sharon和主持人对于亚裔和非裔的议题进行了深入探讨,并得到该节目的大力支持)

确认演讲嘉宾 唐人街不见不散!

Dwight Evans
Congressman 国会议员

Stephanie Sun

宾州州长办公室亚裔委员会执行主任

David Oh

费城市议员

John Chin

执行主任

PCDC 费城华埠发展会

Mark Squilla

费城市议员 – 第一区

Helen Gym

费城市议员

 

 

328游行英文海报,欢迎分享至英文社交媒体及外国朋友 欢迎大家添加筹委会的Ins & Twitter的官方账号 @Action4Asians

本次游行

集合地点:

费城唐人街牌楼(10th St & Arch St )
特别感谢牌楼旁边新张的位于1001 Arch St的斯诺秀Snow甜品店,特意提供店面钥匙给组委会来安排设备电源和作为媒体注册场所。

游行安排:

10AM在费城牌楼集合

10:15AM 新闻发布会

10:45AM 演讲发言

11:15AM-1PM 游行

本次活动也得到很多商家的大力支持,如恒发超市,家和超市都提供大量的矿泉水供大家提取。更多捐款和商家赞助的名单会在游行后的感谢信中刊登。

活动10点准时开始,请大家提前5-15分钟抵达。

10点在牌楼(10th & Arch St)集结,11点15分开始南行走到Chestnut St, 然后左拐往东走到5th St, 再左拐南行到Market St,沿Market St 西行,走到市政厅, 在市政厅广场做25分钟停留,之后环绕市政厅一周,回到11th St. 北向走到Race St,右拐至10th St 解散。

• 九鼎轩 (Nine Ting)

926-928 Race St 1st Floor, Philadelphia, PA 19107

• 峨嵋山庄 (EMei Restaurant)

915 Arch St, Philadelphia, PA 19107

• 太湖海鲜酒家 (Tai Lake Restaurant)

915 Arch St, Philadelphia, PA 1910

• 美食广场(Chinatown Square)

1016-18 Race St, Philadelphia, PA 19107

• 费城长乐工会

1017 Arch St, 二楼前座

• 好朋友老人活动中心

905 Arch St, Philadelphia, PA19107

• The Gallery at East Market

Market St, Philadelphia, PA 19107

• The Gallery at East Market

Market St, Philadelphia, PA 19107

• 亚裔新大楼旁停车场 (游行者优惠$5全天,出示自制标语)

1023 vine street, Philadelphia, PA 19107

• The Autopark at Gallery Mall

45 N 10th St, Philadelphia, PA 19107

• 9th & Arch Street Parking lot

912 Arch St., Philadelphia, PA 19107

• Park America

1030 Race St, Philadelphia, PA 19107

• Philly Chinatown Parking

921 Race St, Philadelphia, PA 19107

• Bright Parking

135 N 10th St, Philadelphia, PA 19107

感谢各位积极参与这次“停止亚裔仇恨”的游行。这次行动的总原则是安全第一,体现华人的团结和秩序。

*本次游行已取得费城警局的大力支持和协助。游行当日有费城警局的警务人员,警车,骑警协调配合确保游行的顺利进行。*

游行活动谨守CDC防疫规范 (如有身体不适请不要参加)。

请参与者带好防疫用品,做好防护。戴口罩和保持社交距离是刚性要求。(筹委会严格遵守CDC规定,在必须场所配备了消毒纸巾,消毒液,并预备了一定数量的口罩以应不备之需(多谢同胞的踊跃捐赠支持!)

请参与者尽量不要单身行动,防止别有用心的反亚裔暴力分子攻击。如发现任何与本集会诉求、目的不相符的行为,请及时联系safety team,及时报警,与警方配合。同时保持友好的态度。避免发生冲突。

如发现可疑人员或行为,请及时取证,联系safety team和警察。多取证(如证人,手机录像录音)。

请不要破坏公物,不要乱扔垃圾,保持公共场所整洁

橙线BSL:

Chinatown直接有一站,但周日似乎不开

http://septa.org/schedules/transit/pdf/bsl.pdf

蓝线MFL:

周日开行,坐到8th street station下,离Chinatown很近,步行约6分钟

Market-Frankford Line

Schedule如下:

http://septa.org/schedules/transit/pdf/mfl.pdf

请以周末版时刻表为准。

从city hall到8th st地铁就隔三站,区间运行时间不会超过十分钟。

蓝线地铁周末时刻表

STOP ANTI-ASIAN HATE

STOP RACISM

STOP ANTI-ASIAN CRIME

STOP ASIAN PHOBIA

STOP RACIAL PREJUDICE

STOP RACIAL HATRED

STOP RACIAL PROFILING

STOP RACIAL VERBAL ABUSE

AAPI AGAINST RACISM

AAPI AGAINST HATE

AAPI AGAINST VIOLENCE

AAPI UNITE.

ASIANS ARE NOT VIRUSES. RACISM IS.

HATE IS A VIRUS

HATE IS A CRIME.

HATE HAS NO PLACE IN THIS GREAT NATION

HATE IS THE CHOICE OF THE WEAK

BRING JUSTICE FOR HATE CRIME VICTIMS

SPREAD LOVE NOT HATRED

LOVE NOT HATE MAKES US GREAT

NO MORE SILENCE

NO EXCUSE FOR HATE. THIS IS OUR HOME

NO PLACE FOR HATE

REFUSE TO BE A VICTIM

WE NEED SAFE COMMUNITY

PROTECT OUR COMMUNITY

WE ARE NOT SILENT

TOGETHER WE ARE STRONGER

WE BELONG HERE TOO

WE ARE ALL AMERICANS

THIS LAND IS FOR YOU AND FOR US TOO

PROUD TO BE ASIAN AMERICAN

START HEALING. STOP HATING

UNITED WE STAND AGAINST RACISM

TOLERATING RACISM IS A RACISM

RACISM IS FASCISM

以下这些特别适合给参加游行的孩子用:

YOU ARE NEVER TOO SMALL TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE

PEACE LOVE NOT HATE

I DIDN’T MAKE YOU SICK

WE LOVE OUR NEIGHBORS

WE LOVE OUR COMMUNITY

ONLY LOVE CAN DRIVE OUT HATE


Stop Asian Hate

Stop Hate! Stop Hate!

Safe Community! Safe Community!

Stand up, Speak up!

United We Stand!

Asian American! Asian Americans!

Proud Asian Americans!

目前有两个还未满员的游行群,可自由添加,可拼团游行,便于及时获取信息。

为什么我们会举办这次游行?请看几天前我们这篇推文:

不再沉默, 大费城亚裔3.28反歧视大游行!本周日路线、停车场、卫生间信息请提前阅览

权益要靠争取,没有理由坐以待毙
分享出去,让更多人知道

19岁华裔青年Christian Hall 无辜被杀

 编者按:

来自网络,请大家帮忙转贴,一定要为无辜击毙的19岁华裔青年Christian Hall申冤签下面的请愿书

https://act.bencrump.com/a/christian-hall

这发生在去年十二月,居然没有人抗议?宾州警察太荒唐了!我一直觉得如果我们不站出来对包括我们在内的有色人种大声疾呼,我们的孩子终有一天会像那样

19岁的克里斯蒂娜·霍尔(Christian Hall)之死需要公义审判,12/30/2020 他经历了精神健康危机,有人打电话给宾州警察要求提供帮助。警察不但没有帮忙还连射数枪打死了举着手的克里斯蒂安(Christian)。这不应该是警察处理心理健康危机的方法!

在先前的公开声明中,警察认为没有目击者看到杀害,所以警察就公开撒谎说克里斯蒂安(Christian)手里拿着枪。后来,有目击者在远方车上秘密地拍摄了一段录像带,证明了一名手无寸铁双臂高举的中国人在高速公路大桥上的几张照片。

陈志波(Chen Zhi Bo)于2001年10月31日出生于中国上海。他于2002年10月23日正式成为克里斯蒂安·约瑟夫·霍尔(Christian Joseph Hall),他是Gareth和Fe Hall的挚爱儿子。

https://mobile.twitter.com/attorneycrump/status/1356784689491623936?s=21

Wrongful Prosecutions of Economic Espionage …

CBS 60 Minutes this Sunday, May 15, 2016 at 7:00PM ET/PT for a special broadcasting about the wrongful prosecutions of economic espionage including Temple University Professor Xiaoxing Xi and National Weather Service hydrologist Sherry Chen.

CBS 60 minutes: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/collateral-damage-60-minutes-bill-whitaker/
CBS News: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/u-s-fight-against-chinese-espionage-ensnares-innocent-americans/

For more information on the case of Sherry Chen, please visit www.sherrychendefensefund.com. The collected trust fund is used for legal related expenses. Any left over funds, if any, goes to non profit charitable organizations. Helping Sherry is like helping ourselves.

大费城华人联合会(PTCAA)成立公告

2016年是在美华人集体发声维权的元年。全美43个城市同步举行的声援梁彼得警官游行标志着美国华人全面的政治觉醒 。辛勤奋斗的华人不愿再做哑裔,不愿再做政治隐形人,不愿再做可以随意被牺牲的弃子。

2016年也是大费城华人联合会的元年。今天,一个叫大费城华人联合会 (Philadelphia Tri-state Chinese Americans Association, or PTCAA) 的民间公益组织正式成立。PTCAA是一个由志愿者管理的、独立的非盈利组织,旨在鼓励美国华裔积极参与美国社会,倡导华裔的合法权益。

我们是谁?

我们是220大费城声援梁彼得警官大游行的发起者,组织者,和热心义工。我们是希望将华人维权与参政意识传播推动的各行各业的普通人。我们是愿意凝聚点滴努力、一起为华人争取更平等公正社会地位与待遇的义工,就在你们身边,始终与你们在一起!

我们的目标是什么?

(1)社区动员:创建快速机动的社交网络,以促进在费城三州地区华裔社区之间的交流与合作; (2)提供平台:便于华裔分享关于参与社区建设的信息和想法;

(3)公民教育:以网上教材、研讨会、圆桌会议和其他社会活动的形式,提高华裔的公民权利意识;

(4)积极外联:与非华裔社区共同协作参与有益于社会的活动;

(5)传承发扬:培育鼓励和帮助下一代华裔,在积极参与和奉献于美国社会的同时,继承发扬中国文化。

我们要做什么?

* 我们要推动普及华人的公民权利知识,整合大费城地区华人维权的策略和资源。

* 我们要积极促进华人与社区的互动交流与合作,与各族裔携手建设美国更美好的明天。

* 我们要鼓励华人积极参政议政。 关心自身和社区的利益与未来。

* 我们要成为一个网络,深入并根植于华人生活的各个角落,一方有需要八方来支援。

* 我们是一个共同体,华人利益休戚与共,一路同行。

我们身处的这个国家,由深具远见卓识的领袖们艰苦建国,奠基自由民主公平正义博爱包容的国家价值观,并由历代勇敢卓越的社会有识之士与自下而上的民权运动使她走在历史正确的方向,走在世界民族国家的前沿。华人受益于美国今天相对比较完善的保障公民平等权益的各种法律制度和机制同时,也需要行使宪法赋予的公民权利、发出华人的声音,保护自己在职场、教育、国家安全、知识产权,政治等各方面的权益。

大费城华人联合会(PTCAA)是2016年华人集体政治觉醒的婴儿。前途漫漫,但我们有勇气,信心,与希望。作为民间非盈利组织,我们不参加或拥护任何政党、不接受有党派倾向的资金,也不接受任何外国政府或政治组织的捐赠。我们的生命力来自于生活和工作在大费城地区的每一位华人。我们定期账务公开、保证每一分的捐款都用于PTCAA承诺的目标与项目。

我们的网站:www.ptcaa.org

我们的PayPal捐赠账号:fund@ptcaa.org

我们目前的项目:继费城220挺梁五千人大游行后,我们正着手在2016大选年推动华人投票。我们欢迎您的关注,期待您的加入、支持、与合作!

After Missteps, U.S. Tightens Rules for Espionage Cases

Source: New york Times

Photo

The Justice Department last year dropped all charges against Xiaoxing Xi, head of Temple University’s physics department; he had been accused of sharing sensitive American-made technology with China. Credit Mark Makela for The New York Times

WASHINGTON — The Justice Department has issued new rules that give prosecutors in Washington greater oversight and control over national security cases after the collapse of several high-profile prosecutions led to allegations that Chinese-Americans were being singled out as spies.

The new rules are intended to prevent such missteps, but without undermining a counterespionage mission that is a top priority for the Obama administration.

In December 2014, the Justice Department dropped charges against two former Eli Lilly scientists, Guoqing Cao and Shuyu Li, who had been accused of leaking proprietary information to a Chinese drugmaker. Three months later, prosecutors dropped a case against Sherry Chen, a government hydrologist in Ohio who had been charged with secretly downloading information about dams.

Then in September, the Justice Department dismissed all charges against a Temple University professor, Xiaoxing Xi, after leading physicists testified that prosecutors had entirely misunderstood the science underpinning their case.

“We cannot tolerate another case of Asian-Americans being wrongfully suspected of espionage,” Representative Judy Chu, Democrat of California, said last fall. “The profiling must end.”

While those cases raised the specter of Chinese espionage, none explicitly charged the scientists as spies. The cases involved routine criminal laws such as wire fraud, so national security prosecutors in Washington did not oversee the cases.

In a letter last month to federal prosecutors nationwide, Deputy Attorney General Sally Q. Yates said that would change. All cases affecting national security, even tangentially, now require coordination and oversight in Washington. That had always been the intention of the rule, but Ms. Yates made it explicit.

“The term ‘national security issue’ is meant to be a broad one,” she wrote.

Ms. Yates told federal prosecutors that consulting with experienced national security prosecutors in Washington would help “ensure prompt, consistent and effective responses” to national security cases.

The letter, which was not made public, was provided to The New York Times by a government official.

John P. Carlin, the Justice Department’s top national security prosecutor, reorganized his staff in Washington in recent years to focus more aggressively on preventing theft of America’s trade secrets. The new rules mean that espionage experts will review cases like Dr. Xi’s. Such cases “shall be instituted and conducted under the supervision” of Mr. Carlin or other top officials, the rules say.

Peter R. Zeidenberg, a lawyer for the firm Arent Fox, who represented Dr. Xi and Ms. Chen, called the new rules “a very positive step.”

Photo

Sherry Chen, a government hydrologist in Ohio, was charged with economic espionage in 2014. The case was dropped five months later. Credit Maddie McGarvey for The New York Times

“It’s welcome, and it’s overdue,” he said. “A bad reaction would be ‘We’re not going to do anything. Everything is fine.’ ”

Several of the cases fell apart when defense lawyers confronted prosecutors with new evidence or previewed the arguments they planned to make in court. In traditional white-collar criminal investigations, those conversations between prosecutors and defense lawyers often happen before charges are filed. In cases involving even a whiff of espionage, however, such conversations rarely happen. Authorities worry that suspects, tipped off to the investigation, will run or destroy evidence.

The absence of those conversations makes it important, then, that such cases receive an extra layer of review, defense lawyers said.

Ms. Yates did not mention the botched cases in her letter. But at the Justice Department, they were regarded as unfortunate — and perhaps preventable — black eyes that detracted from a string of successful espionage prosecutions. The United States faces an onslaught of economic espionage and other spying from China. Last year, Chinese hackers stole a trove of government data — including Social Security numbers and fingerprints — on more than 21 million people.

Last month, Su Bin, a Chinese businessman, pleaded guilty to trying to hack into American defense contractors to steal information on the F-22 and F-35 fighter jets and Boeing’s C-17 military cargo plane. In January, a Chinese citizen pleaded guilty to trying to steal corn seeds from American companies and ship them to China to replicate their genetic properties.

In the Obama administration’s most direct confrontation with China, the Justice Department in 2014 charged five members of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army with hacking into prominent American companies.

Mr. Zeidenberg and others have argued that rushed cases create suspicion and unfairly tarnish reputations. In the case against the Eli Lilly scientists, prosecutors were unsparing in their description.

“If the superseding indictment in this case could be wrapped up in one word, that word would be ‘traitor,’” Cynthia Ridgeway, an assistant United States attorney, told a federal court in Indiana last year, according to the Indianapolis Business Journal.

The Justice Department gave no explanation for later dropping the case, saying only that it was done “in the interests of justice.”

Prosecutors made a similar statement last year when dropping charges against Dr. Xi. The dismissal suggested investigators did not understand and did not do enough to learn the science before they brought charges. Prosecutors had accused Dr. Xi, chairman of Temple’s physics department, with sharing schematics for a piece of American-made laboratory equipment, a pocket heater, with China. After leading scientists — including the inventor of the pocket heater — testified that the schematics showed an entirely different type of heater, the Justice Department dropped the case.

Though prosecutors dropped charges against Ms. Chen, the government has said it intends to fire her. She is fighting that decision.

Liang juror to face judge for ‘lie’ about dad’s shooting conviction

By Emily Saul, New York Post

A Brooklyn judge will convene a special hearing to question the juror accused of lying his way onto the trial of ex-cop Peter Liang in the accidental killing of unarmed Akai Gurley.

Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Danny Chun will determine whether the manslaughter conviction against the former NYPD officer should be set aside, given the bombshell discovery that the juror, Michael Vargas, did not disclose during jury selection that his dad had done time for shooting a friend.

Vargas hid from Chun that his estranged father had served time on a manslaughter conviction — for accidentally shooting a friend — despite the fact that he’d revealed the information to another judge just hours earlier as he was questioned as part of another jury pool on a different case.

Liang’s defense team submitted a motion Tuesday asking Chun to set aside the manslaughter verdict — possibly netting the former rookie a new trial — after Vargas blabbed about his dad.

The proceeding will take place April 13, a day before Liang is due to be sentenced for the fatal shooting of unarmed Akai Gurley in a housing project stairwell in Nov 2014.

Gurley and his girlfriend were on the landing below Liang when his gun went off–the bullet ricocheting off the wall and piercing Gurley’s heart.

Liang faces up to 15 years in prison on the manslaughter charge, but Brooklyn DA Ken Thompson has recommended a no-jail sentence.

Vargas did not immediately return a call for comment.

Source: http://nypost.com/2016/04/07/liang-juror-to-face-judge-for-lie-about-dads-shooting-conviction/

Possible turn for Peter Liang: Juror expressed shock, first time revealed own father jailed for accidental shooting

Jurors expressed shock and dismay Friday over Brooklyn District Attorney Kenneth Thompson’s recommendation of a no-jail sentence for the ex-NYPD cop who killed Akai Gurley.

“What was the point of prosecuting him?” asked a 62-year-old juror who requested anonymity. “What did we do this for?”

“I agree he doesn’t deserve tremendous time,” the juror added, “but if something is wrong, you shouldn’t get a slap on the wrist.”

Former Officer Peter Liang faces up to 15 years in prison after he was convicted of manslaughter in the November 2014 slaying of Gurley, 28.

The unarmed father was mortally wounded when a bullet fired by Liang ricocheted into his chest inside a darkened stairwell at the Pink Houses in East New York.

Thompson has been under attack from Gurley’s loved ones and supporters since he sent a letter to the sentencing judge recommending Liang perform 500 hours of community service, five years’ probation and home confinement for six months.

“Wow. Is this right?” a stunned second juror said after being told about the letter by a Daily News reporter.

“That’s ridiculous.”

BROOKLYN DA KENNETH THOMPSON CALLED ‘TRAITOR’ FOR NOT SEEKING JAIL TIME FOR EX-NYPD COP PETER LIANG OVER AKAI GURLEY’S DEATH

The 62-year-old juror noted that his own father served more than seven years in prison for accidentally shooting a friend.

“You cannot put away the average person’s thoughts here just because they are police officers,” the juror said. “They deserve to be prosecuted and sentenced just like everyone else who has the same background or committed the same crime.”

The Brooklyn resident said he believes Thompson was swayed by pressure from the Asian community, which vigorously protested the charges brought against Liang.

“I think the Asian community played a lot with the DA’s decision and got to him,” the juror said.

But not all of the jurors had harsh words for Thompson.

“He is doing his job and I can’t question him,” said Carlton Screen, 69, the only African-American among the 12-person panel. “That’s how he felt and he is doing what he needs to do as a man in the position, the district attorney.”

GREENE: BROOKLYN DA NEEDS TO BE CLEAR ON AKAI GURLEY DEATH

The jurors spoke out a day after a remorseful Liang offered a face-to-face apology to Kimberly Ballinger, the mother of Gurley’s 3-year-old daughter Akaila.

Liang is slated to be sentenced on April 14.

NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton praised Thompson for his “courage” in urging the judge to spare Liang a prison sentence.

“Thompson has a right to make these recommendations,” Bratton said on 1010 WINS radio.

“He is intimate with all the circumstances in this case and I applaud him for making this decision.”

 

 

 

Source: http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nyc-crime/akai-gurley-jurors-express-shock-da-request-no-jail-article-1.2578181

STATEMENT OF ASSEMBLYMAN WILLIAM COLTON (D, WFP, 47 A.D. KINGS) ON THE RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE KINGS COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY ON THE SENTENCING OF PETER LIANG

While the Press Release issued by the Kings County District Attorney, at least does not compound the injustice done to Peter Liang by recommending jail time, nonetheless it fails to correct the injustice created by the conviction of Peter Liang for manslaughter.

. I am pleased to see that the statement of the District Attorney contradicts the closing statement made by its prosecuting attorney in the case who told the jury that the defendant was somehow aware that a person was in the stairwell and turned and pointed his gun intentionally shooting at the victim. This gross misstatement was not based on any facts or evidence presented in the case and should have resulted in the granting of the Defense Attorney’s motion for a mistrial.
A sentencing recommendation of five years probation, with six months of home confinement and 500 hundred hours of community service leaves Peter Liang, marked as a convicted felon.

Never before has a defendant been convicted of manslaughter based upon such a lack of law or facts to justify such a conviction.

The unjust conviction came about under a unique fact pattern which brought together both Peter Liang, a rookie NYC Police Officer, teamed with another rookie NYC Police officer, and Akai Gurley, a totally innocent person using the stairways because of the lack of dependability of the building elevators, in a notoriously crime ridden and dark stairway directly resulting from the failure of the NYC Housing Authority to maintain the Pink houses in a safe and habitable state.
Since the conviction we have seen both the New York Housing Authority and the New York City Police Department scampering to correct their own internal policy failures, which bear the true cause of this tragedy. NYCHA seeks to shift blame to its workers despite evidence that the lights were out for months and not merely one half hour from the end of a workers shift. The New York Police Department seeks to blame a training officer its charges failed to adequately provide CPR training to the two rookie officers, while promising to issue a directive no longer partnering two rookie officers.
Justice can only be achieved in this case by dismissing the conviction as not supported upon law or facts or in the alternative declaring a mistrial and overturning the conviction. Any other solution simply perpetuates the injustice and results in the continued seeking a scapegoat to distract from the failure of city agencies and city officials to meet their obligations properly.

To avoid a repeat of tragic event, city government and its officials must do better to deliver services to protect and serve the people of New York City.