Prosecutors said on Wednesday they would not seek prison time for a New York police officer convicted of manslaughter in the death of an unarmed black man that fueled nationwide protests.

Peter Liang, a rookie officer who had been on the job just months, was found guilty on February 11 following a jury trial that examined the death of 28-year-old father of one, Akai Gurley.

It is rare for US police officers to go on trial for opening fire but departments across the country have come are under heightened scrutiny over the shootings of unarmed suspects, many of them black.