Bill de Blasio NYPD Luncheon: NYC Mayor Asks For City's Cooperation Following Police Killing

Two uniformed NYPD officers Wenjian Liu and Rafael Ramos were shot dead Saturday afternoon as the sat in their marked police car in Brooklyn. The officers were working overtime as part of an anti-terroism drill in Bedford-Stuyvesant just before 3p.m. when they were shot by 28 year old Ismaaiyl Brinsley. The investigators believe the motive of Brinsley's killing was to avenge the deaths of Eric Garner and Michael Brown. After killing the two officers, Brinsley, too, was dead, having turned his gun on himself on a nearby subway platform as cops closed in. Only just three hours before shooting Liu and Ramos — vile anti-police threats were posted to Brinsley’s Instagram page. The threats referenced the ­recent police-involved killings of Garner and Brown.

“I’m Putting Wings on Pigs Today,” a person believed to be the gunman wrote. “They Take 1 Of Ours . . . Let’s Take 2 of Theirs,” the post continued, ending with, “This May Be My Final Post.”

The aftermath of this tragedy is the president of the city’s largest police union, Patrick Lynch, blamed Mr. de Blasio for the tragedy. The officers’ blood “starts on the steps of City Hall,” he said, “in the office of the mayor.”The reaction comes from weeks of tensions between de Blasio and NYPD. This is because of the latest speech Mayor De Blasio made stating “Our police are here to protect us, and we honor that,” the mayor said then, invoking his biracial son, Dante. “And at the same time, there’s a history we have to overcome, because for so many of our young people, there’s a fear.”

Patrick Lynch and NYPD officers felt Major Bill De Blasio was not on their side and before the shooting occured they had created a letter allowing officers to request that the mayor not attend their funerals in the event of their death in the line of duty.

Mayor Bill De Blasio spoke today at the Police Athletic League luncheon. De Blasio said it’s time to put aside politics, debates and protests at this time. The officers Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu will be laid to rest. “Let’s accompany these families on their difficult journeys. Let’s see them through the funerals. Then, debate can begin again,” said de Blasio. “I would ask any organizations that were planning events or gathering that are about politics and protest that can be for another day.

The families of slain officers Wenjian Liu and Rafael Ramos "are now our family and we will stand by them, they are "suffering an unspeakable pain right now." "Our first obligation is to respect these families in mourning. De Blasio called it an attack on all police and said New Yorkers should take a moment to thank and console a police officer.