Protests over indictment of Office Peter Liang: Perplexing
I opened the Philadelphia Inquirer today to find out that Chinese American communities across the country felt the need to protest the recent conviction of Peter Liang in the murder of Akai Gurley in November 2014. I am confused as to why this issue has become such a focal point in the Asian community. Last year alone, police killed more than 102 unarmed black men in this country, more than any other race. Nearly 1 in 3 black people killed by police last year were identified as unarmed. The young man that was killed by Officer Liang was unarmed and was walking with his girlfriend.
Officer Liang indicated that his gun just seemed to go off. After shooting Mr. Gurley, he stepped over his dying body and refused to give medical assistance. He and his partner supposedly argued about what they were going to tell the Sergeant about what had transpired. I often have to wonder what type of training these officers receive before they have the opportunity to play judge, jury and executioner with the lives of those of us that pay for their protection. Simulated training cannot replace that real life situations that these officers but the high number of casualties of unarmed black men is disturbing.
Beyoncé is continuing to receive backlash over her performance at halftime of Super Bowl 50. She paid homage to the struggles of the Black Panthers to escape police oppression 50 years ago. The halftime show was supposed to feature Coldplay but all anyone can remember is that Beyoncé dared to ask police to stop shooting us. There is a website entitled: www.mappingpoliceviolence.com which has devastating stories of the unarmed individuals killed by police. Michael Lee Marshal was killed by police on 11/11/2015 when three sheriff's deputies restrained him into unconsciousness. His story is repeated numerous times and the ending is always death. The epitaph is a short bio but these individuals will not be seeing life in 2016.
It was recently reported in the New York Post that two plainclothes police officers were shot in Brooklyn after a brief car chase. There have been 11 police officers killed this year in the line of duty. I understand the threats that these brave individuals face every day as they carry out their duties. CNN reported that at least five officer were killed within a span of days on February 12th, 2016. I feel for the family's of the police officers as these are dangerous tmes that we are living in. Republicans and the NRA do not want to address gun control in any way shape or form. Six people were murdered in Kalamazoo, Michigan last night and it will be a blip on the radar screen of violence in this country. Whatever Jason Dalton's motives were to shoot innocent people, it will not matter to the families of those now having to plan funerals.
Some of the comments by the Chinese American protesters were interesting. One of the most galling was 'One Tragedy, Two Victims.' So the family of Akai Gurley is supposed to settle for the fact that Officer Liang was supposed to be acquitted even though a jury was shown that he had to place significant pressure on the trigger of the department issued gun that he murdered this man with. The Asian community even quoted Martin Luther King by saying "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justive everywhere." I am perplexed. They would want justice if one of their community members was murdered. We couldn't get justice for Tamir Rice. Why would the death of an innocent man by a police office spawn nationwide protests? The race saga continues in this country.
Officer Liang indicated that his gun just seemed to go off. After shooting Mr. Gurley, he stepped over his dying body and refused to give medical assistance. He and his partner supposedly argued about what they were going to tell the Sergeant about what had transpired. I often have to wonder what type of training these officers receive before they have the opportunity to play judge, jury and executioner with the lives of those of us that pay for their protection. Simulated training cannot replace that real life situations that these officers but the high number of casualties of unarmed black men is disturbing.
Beyoncé is continuing to receive backlash over her performance at halftime of Super Bowl 50. She paid homage to the struggles of the Black Panthers to escape police oppression 50 years ago. The halftime show was supposed to feature Coldplay but all anyone can remember is that Beyoncé dared to ask police to stop shooting us. There is a website entitled: www.mappingpoliceviolence.com which has devastating stories of the unarmed individuals killed by police. Michael Lee Marshal was killed by police on 11/11/2015 when three sheriff's deputies restrained him into unconsciousness. His story is repeated numerous times and the ending is always death. The epitaph is a short bio but these individuals will not be seeing life in 2016.
It was recently reported in the New York Post that two plainclothes police officers were shot in Brooklyn after a brief car chase. There have been 11 police officers killed this year in the line of duty. I understand the threats that these brave individuals face every day as they carry out their duties. CNN reported that at least five officer were killed within a span of days on February 12th, 2016. I feel for the family's of the police officers as these are dangerous tmes that we are living in. Republicans and the NRA do not want to address gun control in any way shape or form. Six people were murdered in Kalamazoo, Michigan last night and it will be a blip on the radar screen of violence in this country. Whatever Jason Dalton's motives were to shoot innocent people, it will not matter to the families of those now having to plan funerals.
Some of the comments by the Chinese American protesters were interesting. One of the most galling was 'One Tragedy, Two Victims.' So the family of Akai Gurley is supposed to settle for the fact that Officer Liang was supposed to be acquitted even though a jury was shown that he had to place significant pressure on the trigger of the department issued gun that he murdered this man with. The Asian community even quoted Martin Luther King by saying "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justive everywhere." I am perplexed. They would want justice if one of their community members was murdered. We couldn't get justice for Tamir Rice. Why would the death of an innocent man by a police office spawn nationwide protests? The race saga continues in this country.
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