Jim Kouri
Funeral for fallen cop: NYPD asks New Yorkers to dump Mayor Bill de Blasio
By Jim Kouri
The display of thousands of law enforcement officials representing departments and agencies throughout the country standing in the streets of the Queens section of New York City on Saturday, to honor one of two police officers assassinated last week, was a sight not seen since the large number police and firefighter funerals following the 9-11 terrorist attack.
But despite Mayor Bill de Blasio's well-written comments during the service – such as when he said the departed Officer Rafael Ramos was a devoted family man, aspiring chaplain and hero – the animosity felt by cops for a mayor they say threw them under the bus could not be subdued by one flowery speech.
Although the cops sitting and standing inside the Christ Tabernacle Catholic Church behaved politely as Mayor de Blasio spoke, scores of New York's Finest outside on the streets turned their backs as he and his wife passed to demonstrate their distaste for his defense and out-and-out support for anti-police protesters. While the liberal-left politicians and news outlets downplayed the violence and hate-filled speech directed at police, amateur videos showed protest marchers encouraging the killing of police officers.
One officer who turned his back during de Blasio's speech said that the mayor is all talk."He's just being a politician like the others [Vice President Joe Biden and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo], but even before he was elected mayor, he was anti-cop," said the officer. "As far as I'm concerned, He's no mayor of my city."
"I noticed that at least [President Barack] Obama and [Attorney General Eric] Holder didn't show up. They knew it would have been a bad time for their photo ops. At least, de Blasio had the stones to show up and take the heat," said a former New York police detective, Ronald Knudsen.
New York City's Police Benevolent Association union officials minced no words in their blaming de Blasio for his posturing and his anti-police sentiment. It was obvious to anyone watching and listening to de Blasio he supported the angry protests when it was announced that no charges were filed in the police deaths of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, and Eric Garner in New York.
Saturday's funeral was not the first time NYPD officers gave Mayor de Blasio a sign of their disrespect. At a hospital after the officers' died, the police union's president, Patrick Lynch, and others turned their backs on de Blasio. Lynch went as far as saying that the Democrat mayor had "blood on his hands."
Even before the cop-killings, Lynch, who spent his adult life as a cop, had urged NYPD officers to sign a petition that would forbid the mayor's attendance or participation in the funerals of fallen police officers who die in the line of duty.
The news media attempted to portray de Blasio as showing support for the NYPD since the shootings by a black Muslim repeat-offender, pointing to how he urged protesters to take time off from their demonstrations and marches. But even one of his best friends, Rev. Al Sharpton, for whom de Blasio's wife once worked, continued the marches and protests.
© Jim Kouri
December 29, 2014
The display of thousands of law enforcement officials representing departments and agencies throughout the country standing in the streets of the Queens section of New York City on Saturday, to honor one of two police officers assassinated last week, was a sight not seen since the large number police and firefighter funerals following the 9-11 terrorist attack.
But despite Mayor Bill de Blasio's well-written comments during the service – such as when he said the departed Officer Rafael Ramos was a devoted family man, aspiring chaplain and hero – the animosity felt by cops for a mayor they say threw them under the bus could not be subdued by one flowery speech.
Although the cops sitting and standing inside the Christ Tabernacle Catholic Church behaved politely as Mayor de Blasio spoke, scores of New York's Finest outside on the streets turned their backs as he and his wife passed to demonstrate their distaste for his defense and out-and-out support for anti-police protesters. While the liberal-left politicians and news outlets downplayed the violence and hate-filled speech directed at police, amateur videos showed protest marchers encouraging the killing of police officers.
One officer who turned his back during de Blasio's speech said that the mayor is all talk."He's just being a politician like the others [Vice President Joe Biden and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo], but even before he was elected mayor, he was anti-cop," said the officer. "As far as I'm concerned, He's no mayor of my city."
"I noticed that at least [President Barack] Obama and [Attorney General Eric] Holder didn't show up. They knew it would have been a bad time for their photo ops. At least, de Blasio had the stones to show up and take the heat," said a former New York police detective, Ronald Knudsen.
New York City's Police Benevolent Association union officials minced no words in their blaming de Blasio for his posturing and his anti-police sentiment. It was obvious to anyone watching and listening to de Blasio he supported the angry protests when it was announced that no charges were filed in the police deaths of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, and Eric Garner in New York.
Saturday's funeral was not the first time NYPD officers gave Mayor de Blasio a sign of their disrespect. At a hospital after the officers' died, the police union's president, Patrick Lynch, and others turned their backs on de Blasio. Lynch went as far as saying that the Democrat mayor had "blood on his hands."
Even before the cop-killings, Lynch, who spent his adult life as a cop, had urged NYPD officers to sign a petition that would forbid the mayor's attendance or participation in the funerals of fallen police officers who die in the line of duty.
The news media attempted to portray de Blasio as showing support for the NYPD since the shootings by a black Muslim repeat-offender, pointing to how he urged protesters to take time off from their demonstrations and marches. But even one of his best friends, Rev. Al Sharpton, for whom de Blasio's wife once worked, continued the marches and protests.
© Jim Kouri
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