John Bacon, and Melanie Eversley

USA TODAY

A Brooklyn judge on Tuesday threw out the manslaughter conviction of New York City police officer Peter Liang for the fatal shooting of an unarmed black man that sparked emotional protests from both sides of the controversial case.

Liang, 28, could have faced up to 15 years in prison for manslaughter in the death of Akai Gurley, 28. Judge Danny Chun reduced the jury's conviction to criminally negligent homicide. Chun sentenced Liang to five years probation and 800 hours of community service.

Expressions of outrage bubbled up from Gurley's family, the civil rights community and even the Asian American community.

Gurley's mother, Sylvia Palmer, issued an emotional response to Chun's decision and faulted Brooklyn District Attorney Kenneth Thompson for recommending a home confinement sentence.

"By escaping jail time, Peter Liang faces no meaningful legal accountability for killing Akai," Palmer said. "This felony conviction without appropriate consequences makes clear that police are treated as if they are above the law, allowing Liang to walk out of court home to his family while my son will never be able to do the same. Judge Chun’s sentencing decision today is an insult to the life of Akai Gurley, to me as his mother, to all families whose loved ones have been killed by police, and all New Yorkers. Shame on D.A. Thompson, Judge Chun and New York City – while we thank the community for standing with our family, this is another sad chapter in this city’s history with the status quo maintained.."

Even Thompson, who prosecuted Liang for manslaughter, said his office would fight the decision.

"While our sentencing recommendation was fair under the unique circumstances of this case, we respectfully disagree with the judge's decision to reduce the jury's verdict and will right to reverse it on appeal.

The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, a civil rights organization based in New York, expressed deep disappointment at the decision.

"This decision compromises the perception of fairness and independence that is vital to improving public confidence in the justice system and to restoring effective community-police relations," said Sherrilyn Ifill, the organization's president and director-counsel. "Here, the jury did its job and was failed by the prosecutorial and judicial components of the justice system, as was Mr. Gurley’s family.”

A coalition of Asian American organizations together condemned the judge's decision.

"Any amount of jail/prison time is a brief snippet of time compared to the lifetime Akai Gurley’s young daughters will have to live without their father," read a joint statement released by the Asian Americans United out of Philadelphia, Chinatown Community for Equitable Development out of Los Angeles, CAAAV Organizing Asian Communiities out of New York, and the Chinese Progressive Association out of San Francisco and Boston. "The sentencing sends the message that it is okay to kill innocent and precious lives, as long as it is done by a police officer," the joint statement read.

Qing Lan Huang, an Asian-American New Yorker whose then-7-year-old younger brother was killed by police in 1996 when they mistook his BB gun for the real thing, also expressed outrage at the decision.

"The system denied justice to Akai Gurley's family just like it denied justice to mine," said Huang, 46, of Staten Island.

Liang was on patrol in a housing project in November 2014 when he said he drew and accidentally fired his weapon in a stairwell. Akai Gurley, 28, was killed by the ricocheting bullet. Liang, who is Chinese-American, was convicted of manslaughter in February and subsequently fired.

Gurley's relatives started a Facebook page titled "Justice for Akai Gurley Family" that has drawn more than 1,300 likes. A post entitled "Pack the Court. Pack the Street" encouraged supporters to gather at the courthouse during Tuesday's sentencing to "demand accountability for the unjust killing."

Liang has his own supporters. His conviction prompted a protest in Brooklyn that drew thousands of them, including many Chinese-Americans. Similar protests took place in San Francisco and elsewhere, pressing a complaint that a Chinese-American officer should not be convicted of a crime when white officers seldom are convicted or even tried in shooting cases.

DA wants house arrest for NYC cop convicted in death of unarmed black man

Last month, Thompson announced he would recommend six months of home confinement, five years probation and 500 hours of community service.

"His incarceration is not necessary to protect the public, and due to the unique circumstances of this case, a prison sentence is not warranted," Thompson said. "There are no winners here."

Last week, Chun rejected a motion from Liang's lawyers that the conviction be tossed on grounds that a juror had lied to claim a spot on the panel. Liang's lawyers accused juror Michael Vargas of having an anti-police bias and lying to hide his father's criminal past. Chun determined that Vargas had hedged but not lied — and that none of it had any impact on the guilty verdict.