Meanwhile in New York City, an unarmed African American was shot dead by police in a Brooklyn housing project Thursday night. Akai Gurley was in the dimly lit stairwell of the Louis H. Pink Houses when he came across two officers. Police say the shooting appears to have been accidental and that Gurley was “totally innocent.” Protesters are calling for the officer’s arrest. On Saturday, New York Assemblyman-elect Charles Barron helped lead a march from the shooting scene to the police office for housing developments.

Charles Barron: “This is an outrage. We are angry. There’s no way, no way, a young man in a stairwell with two heavily armed police officers, and he’s unarmed, should be dead. This is madness. It must stop. People are outraged. This is happening all over the country. They have no value for black life. I don’t want to hear nothing about a dimly lit stairwell. I don’t want to hear nothing about him being startled. This young man should still be alive today.”

The officer, Peter Liang, has been placed on modified duty pending the outcome of an investigation.