Thousands protest NYPD officer Liang's conviction

People take part in a rally in support of New York City police officer Peter Liang, in San Francisco, the United States, Feb. 20, 2016. Tens of thousands of people rallied Saturday in more than 30 American cities to protest the conviction of Peter Liang, a former New York police officer of Chinese descent. A ricocheted bullet from Liang's service weapon accidentally killed African American Akai Gurley, an unarmed civilian, when the former New York police officer was patrolling in a housing project in the borough of Brooklyn in late November in 2014. Liang was found guilty of the killing of Gurley and convicted of second-degree manslaughter by a jury on Feb. 11. [Photo/Xinhua]

SAN FRANCISCO -- Approximately 5,000 people staged a demonstration in San Francisco Saturday to protest against the conviction of a New York policeman of Chinese descent for accidental shooting to death of a 28-year old black man more than one year ago.

In the city where the percentage of ethnic Chinese is one of the highest among major US cities, thousands of demonstrators gathered initially at Justin Herman Plaza across the historic Ferry Building.

While organizers expected some 2,000 people to show up, the crowd on Saturday morning was estimated by police officers on the scene to have reached about 5,000, nearly half of them mobilized by a number of community groups at Chinatown.

The rest of demonstrators came from across the San Francisco Bay Area.