Police officers from across the country gathered to pay their respects to the murdered cop. Mayor Bill de Blasio made an appearance, and officers did not turn their backs on him as they have done recently.
An officer cries as she leaves slain New York Police Department officer Wenjian Liu's on January 3.
Carlo Allegri / Reuters
NEW YORK CITY — Slain New York Police Department officer Weijian Liu was honored Saturday at a quiet wake in Brooklyn, with New Yorkers and officers from across the country arriving to pay their respects.
Liu and another officer, Rafael Ramos, were killed on Dec. 20 by a lone gunman who travelled from Maryland with the express purpose of killing police after attempting to murder his ex-girlfriend. The killer, Ismaaiyl Brinsley, took his own life minutes after shooting the cops.
The murder of the two officers set off tensions between the NYPD and the administration of Mayor Bill de Blasio, with some union leaders saying the mayor was partially to blame for the killings, after he showed solidarity with large-scale protests demanding an end to police brutality. A similar wake for Ramos on Dec. 26 became a stage for those tensions, with hundreds of cops outside the funeral turning their backs on mayor when he appeared on a screen to deliver a eulogy.
Saturday's wake saw none such gestures. The mayor and Police Commissioner Bill Bratton arrived quietly, after the rank and file had been let into the funeral home through a different door. De Blasio left after 15 minutes without addressing reporters. Long Island Congressman Peter King and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo also made an appearance.
On Friday, the New York Post reported that Bratton issued a memo to all officers indirectly asking them to not repeat the gesture.
from BuzzFeed - USNews http://ift.tt/1xrg9jN
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