New York police officer indicted for black man's fatal shooting

New York, Feb 11 (IANS/EFE) A grand jury has indicted New York police officer Peter Liang for fatally shooting an unarmed African-American man last November.

Liang, a rookie Newe York Police Department (NYPD) officer, will be arraigned Wednesday at a court in Brooklyn, a media report said.

The victim, Akai Gurley, 28, was killed Nov 20 while leaving a public housing complex in Brooklyn.

The 26-year-old Liang, along with another officer, were in the stairwell of the building when Gurley and his girlfriend, a building resident, entered.

Liang accidentally shot Gurley at a distance of about 10 feet, the NYPD said at the time.

Gurley's death came four months after another African-American man, Eric Garner, died after a white NYPD officer applied a chokehold while trying to arrest him for allegedly selling untaxed cigarettes.

The 43-year-old Garner, who was asthmatic, died of asphyxiation. The medical examiner classified the July 17 death as a homicide and said the chokehold was a factor.

Even so, a grand jury in the New York borough of Staten Island declined to charge the officer.

The Staten Island decision was announced 11 days after a St. Louis County grand jury declined to indict white police officer Darren Wilson for the Aug 9 fatal shooting of an unarmed black teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri.

These grand jury decisions had led to widespread protests in the US.

"No matter the specific charges, this case is an unspeakable tragedy for the Gurley family. We urge everyone to respect the judicial process as it unfolds," New York Mayor, Bill de Blasio, said Tuesday after learning of Liang's indictment.

--IANS/EFE

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