Prosecutor Won’t Seek Prison for Peter Liang, Ex-Officer Convicted in Killing

The Brooklyn district attorney’s office announced on Wednesday that it would not seek prison time for the former New York City police officer convicted last month in the fatal shooting of an unarmed man in a housing project in East New York.

In a statement, the district attorney, Ken Thompson, said the case was about “justice and not about revenge,” and recommended that the former officer, Peter Liang, receive five years of probation, including six months of home confinement, when he faces sentencing next month.

“Mr. Liang has no prior criminal history and poses no future threat to public safety,” Mr. Thompson’s statement said. “Because his incarceration is not necessary to protect the public, and due to the unique circumstances of this case, a prison sentence is not warranted.”

Mr. Liang was on patrol in a stairwell with his partner in the Louis H. Pink Houses on Nov. 20, 2014, when his gun fired and a ricocheting bullet struck and killed Akai Gurley, a 28-year-old black man who was visiting his girlfriend.

The killing of Mr. Gurley came barely four months after an another unarmed black man, Eric Garner, died in a confrontation with the police on Staten Island, and the two deaths pulled New York into a national debate over race and the criminal justice system。

A little more than more than a year after Mr. Gurley’s death, a state grand jury indicted Mr. Liang on charges that included manslaughter. He was convicted on Feb. 11, and then fired by the Police Department.

On Wednesday, Mr. Gurley’s family denounced the prosecutors’ decision.

“We are outraged at District Attorney Thompson’s inadequate sentencing recommendation,” the family said in a statement. “Officer Liang was convicted of manslaughter and should serve time in prison for his crime. This sentencing recommendation sends the message that police officers who kill people should not face serious consequences.”

Mr. Thompson’s statement, which was accompanied by a formal sentencing letter, serves only as a recommendation to Justice Danny K. Chun of State Supreme Court in Brooklyn, who is scheduled to hand down the sentence in the case on April 14.