Thousands rally for ex-NYPD officer Liang across US

Seattle

Allen Huang, rally participant from Seattle

I am sorry for this tragic accident while Officer Peter Liang was on duty. African-American life matters, Asian-American life, each individual's life matters. We shall take great precaution in dealing with people's lives and livelihood. We want to treat all races in a conforming manner. It's not which race against which. It's the system at fault. We shall address the issue of poverty, non-equal environment. Let's use this crisis as a turning point toward realizing Dr. Martin Luther King's dream, which is an American Dream for all of us!

Yiguang Ju, spokesman for the rally

We are not here today to say Peter Liang is innocent. There is no winner in this tragedy. We are here to share in the sorrows of both Gurley's and Liang's families. Both men are the sacrifices to our failing police and justice systems. We are here to seek equality of justice. We are here to unite and to ask what can be done for a better future, so that none of us, nor our future generations, become the next sacrifice.

Houston

According to Houston Rally organizers Qing Mei and Xie Zhong, more than 1,500 people attended a rally for Liang.

Luo Xin, secretary general for the Houston rally

We have more than 1,500 people registered to participate in the rally, and the turnout is somewhat more than that. More than 60 volunteers worked day and night in the past four days. We needed a few thousand dollars to prepare banners, fliers, T-shirts and such, and the community has really come together to support us and donated all the money we needed in less than a day.

As a stay-at-home mother with kids, I want to improve the social environment where I have lived for almost 20 years. I want us to join other minority groups to fight for justice and fairness for all.

Sun Yingying, president, Houston Chinese Alliance

While I do think that Liang does need to pay the price for his mistake, it's an accident after all, and he was used as a scapegoat to ease the tension between law enforcement and the African-American community with a criminal conviction.

There are many different voices when it comes to the rally, and some are worried that it may backfire. I am not against the rally and think the community can learn how to work together despite their differences. I decided not to be part of the rally because I, and many members at HCA, feel that we can better help former NYPD officer Peter Liang through legal support.

To help Liang, HCA is doing two things: collecting signatures for a petition to the judge for a lenient sentence and to advocate fundraising for Liang to get better legal counsel once the legal fund trust is established.

I feel that the case ended with a conviction because Liang's lawyer is not good enough. HCA sent out more than 20 volunteers to collect signatures for the petition at the rally, and we collected a few hundred signatures.

John Ferguson, a New Yorker currently visiting family in Houston, joined the Houston rally with his wife, Xu Chenxin

"We live a half hour from Brooklyn, and I know all about this case. If I were in New York, I'd join the rally in Brooklyn. Here we are fighting for the rights of every police officer throughout the US. I think it's very important to protect their rights as best as possible. I don't feel that justice was served for Peter Liang for what he has done.

There have been several other cases where other police officers in different circumstances, where there had been a victim, in those cases the police officers were not found guilty. We want the same applied to Peter Liang's situation. I don't feel that justice has served him."

Long Yifan in New York and Xinhua in San Francisco contributed to this story.