WASHINGTON, DC — New Asian Leaders (NAL), a non-profit Asian American leadership organization headquartered in Washington, DC, applauds Judge Danny Chun’s sentencing decision regarding former NYC Police Officer Peter Liang. Judge Chun sentenced Mr. Peter Liang to 800 hours of community service and five years probation today after he reduced the manslaughter conviction to criminally negligent homicide in the shooting death of Mr. Akai Gurley, 28. Before today’s sentencing, Mr. Peter Liang could have faced up to 15 years in prison.

New Asian Leaders agrees with and applauds Judge Chun’s sentencing and consider it fair and just. We believe that Mr. Liang can demonstrate his remorse by conducting community service, helping others in need.

New Asian Leaders calls upon the entire NYC community to gather together to heal the divisions and hurts that are rightfully felt by all for the ongoing problems of police injustice and poverty affecting NYC residents. They must fight against stereotypes that pit minority and poor communities against one another. They must continue to hold NYC administrators and the Police Department accountable. Asian Americans, in particular, must continue to fight against systemic bias in the judicial process, as what was shown in the grand jury proceedings.

On February 20th, Asian Americans proved in a very short period of time that they could rally nationwide to fight against injustice and stand with both Mr. Peter Liang and Mr. Akai Gurley. Historically, they have mobilized the largest movement in their collective history to address social ills. We now see a new dawn where they are making concerted efforts to work together with other minority communities to address poverty, police practices, and relations between communities. They will not forget the underlying causes of tragedies such as that faced by Akai Gurley and Peter Liang. Poverty, discrimination, bias, and class inequality need to be addressed. Over 50 years after the Civil Rights Movement, we call for a renewed effort by Americans to bridge our differences and unite in a common cause to quell poverty, ” said Mr. Cliff Li, Executive Director of New Asian Leaders.(Source: New Asian Leaders)