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| Former NYPD Officer Peter Liang when the verdict was read at his manslaughter trial this month. |
(CNN)Thousands rallied in cities across the nation Saturday in support of a rookie New York police officer who shot and killed an unarmed man in what the protesters said was a tragic accident.
The officer, Peter Liang, 28, was found guilty of manslaughter and official misconduct earlier this month in the shooting death of Akai Gurley, 28. He was immediately fired after the highly unusual conviction of a cop for the shooting death of a civilian. He faces a sentence of up to 15 years.
A group calling itself the Coalition of Justice for Liang on Saturday staged rallies from Boston to Los Angeles, with supporters claiming the officer was subjected to "selective prosecution." The group said about 100,000 people took part in 30 cities.
Protesters carried signs with messages such as "Justice not politics," "One Tragedy, Two Victims," and "Equal Justice, No scapegoating."
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| Akai Gurley, who was unarmed, was killed by rookie New York Police Officer Peter Liang in 2014. |
In San Francisco, protester Amy Matecki said, "Peter Liang's incident brought the Chinese community together. We want to speak up. One voice, united together. Life matters, justice for all. No scapegoat."
"He was singled out as a victim for some political reasons," said Min Yan, a physician in Oakland.
During closing arguments at Liang's trial, the officer's lawyer called the fatal shooting tragic but not a crime, stressing that Liang followed procedures. Police had described Gurley was "a total innocent."
"What happened here is a tragedy," defense attorney Rae Koshetz said. "It's a terrible tragedy, but it's not a crime."
Prosecutors argued that Liang showed poor judgment.
Liang took the stand at trial and lost his composure when asked to recount what happened in the stairwell that night.
"I was panicking. I was in shock, in disbelief that someone was actually hit," he said.
Gurley's death occurred a few months after Eric Garner died as police tried to arrest him on Staten Island. The chokehold death of Garner, an unarmed 43-year-old man, sparked street protests, a review of police procedures and calls for a federal civil rights investigation. A grand jury declined to prosecute the officer.
CNN's Laura Ly, Lydia O'Neal, Greg Botelho, Ryan Young and Vivian Kuo contributed to this story.