One bullet ... two victims? How ex-NYPD cop Peter Liang’s conviction galvanised Chinese Americans
Supporters say Liang is being unjustly scapegoated in the killing of Akai Gurley, a case that has opened a rift between black and Chinese communities in New York
On a Saturday in February, Chivy Ngo, who owns Mister Bo Ky restaurant in Brooklyn, took a rare three-hour lunch break, closed his restaurant, and taped a sign to the door.
“Will be at the rally for PETER LIANG reopen at 3pm.”
Ngo, a Chinese immigrant from Vietnam, rarely participates in politics. But that was before New York police officer Peter Liang fired his gun into a dark stairwell, and the ricocheting bullet struck and killed an unarmed black man.
Liang, who grew up in New York’s Chinatown and is the son of Chinese immigrants, became the first New York City officer in more than a decade to be convicted in a shooting in the line of duty. For Ngo, the case stirred a sense of injustice he had never felt before. He and more than 10,000 other Asian-Americans flooded the streets of Brooklyn.
Nail salon workers stood with politicians. Cooks marched with uptown lawyers. They waved American flags and hoisted signs suggesting that Liang’s conviction was the product of discrimination: “Peter Scapegoat”; “One tragedy: two victims.” The case sparked similar protests across the nation, but there were also counterprotests by African American groups demanding that Liang go to prison.