Crime & Safety
Brooklyn Cop Who Killed Akai Gurley Will Stand Trial Next Year
NYPD Officer Peter Liang shot the unarmed black man in a dark stairwell at the Louis Pink Houses.
“Akai Gurley’s aunt speaking out in front of Brooklyn criminal court.” Photo via NYersAgainstBratton/Twitter
More than a year after NYPD rookie cop Peter Liang shot and killed unarmed Brooklyn 28-year-old Akai Gurley in a darkened stairwell of an affordable housing complex in East New York, the officer will be tried for manslaughter and other charges.
Liang’s trial is set for Jan. 7, 2016, according to the Associated Press. He will reportedly plead “not guilty.”
Gurley was killed on Nov. 20, 2014, while visiting his girlfriend at the Louis Pink Houses.
Prosecutors argue that Liang shouldn’t have had his finger on the trigger of his gun, the AP reports — and that he should have called an ambulance immediately after Gurley was shot.
A crowd of the young victim’s friends, family and supporters gathered outside Brooklyn’s State Supreme Court on Sept. 29 to demand justice for Gurley and reiterate that they do not plan to settle in court.
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