By Louis Chan
AsAmNews National Correspondent
Concern is growing among some that the upcoming sentencing of Peter Liang could increase tensions between Blacks and Asians.
A panel discussion on the topic has been scheduled for Monday morning at 8:30 at the New York City Bar Association.
It’s sponsored by the Asian American Business Development Center and 100 Black Men, Inc.
How you view Liang’s upcoming sentencing now scheduled for April 14 depends on how you view the incident.
On Wednesday, New York District Attorney Ken Thompson recommended that Liang should be sentenced to community service and six months of home detention. In other words, no jail time.
Those who see the death of Gurley as a horrible accident likely support Thompson’s sentencing recommendation.
“Often, those who win see no need for restraint,” said the statement provided to the Los Angeles Time from Liang’s defense attorneys Paul Shectman and Gabriel Chin. “That is what makes Dist. Atty. Thompson’s decision to recommend a non-jail sentence so exceptional.
“Although we disagree with Mr. Thompson on the fundamental issue of Peter’s culpability, he deserves praise for his dispassionate and courageous decision that incarceration is not called for in this case.”
Those who see Gurley’s death as part of a string of unjust police shootings against unarmed Black men likely are angered by Thompson’s recommendation.
“I call it a modern-day lynching,” Gurley’s aunt Hertencia Petersen said to the New York Daily News. “It’s like killing Akai over and over again.”
Still others, may see the prosecution of Liang for manslaughter coupled with the light sentence, as the right balance.
“As I have said before, there are no winners here,” Thompson said in a statement. “But the sentence that I have requested is just and fair under the circumstances of this case. From the beginning, this tragic case has always been about justice and not about revenge.”
The final decision on any sentence will be up to Judge Danny Chun. Liang faces maximum sentence of 15 years in prison.
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RE: Concern sentencing of Peter Liang could hurt Black Asian relations: A modern day lynching? Seriously??? Anyone concerned about a no jail time sentence hurting relations is utterly clueless.
RE: Concern Sentencing of Peter Liang could hurt Black Asian relations: The relations between the two have already been DESTROYED! The damage and division to the AAPI community has been FAR WORSE!!! No matter what the Black Community by and large WILL NOT be satisfied until Liang is serving JAIL time. This even though it was a CLEAR accident. WHY be so FEROCIOUS about throwing our Brother Peter Liang under the bus? This was UNPRECEDENTED in New York State legal history!!! Why should Liang get such a SEVERE and HARSH sentence for an ACCIDENT??? Now we need to make the difficult decisions to ENGAGE and be part of the American Civil Rights movement. No longer should we just continue to ignore our fellow minorities struggles and pains. In doing so the other minorities will also begin to SUPPORT our causes and people in America. There is NO OTHER way besides honest and open engagement. We need to live together peacefully.