Thousands Attend 8-Hour Wake For Slain NYC Officer
Source: Associated Press
By MIKE BALSAMO 3 hours ago
NEW YORK (AP) Thousands of uniformed police officers from New York City and around the country gathered Friday at the solemn, eight-hour wake of a city policeman who was killed along with his partner in a brazen daytime shooting a week ago.
Mayor Bill de Blasio, who had been criticized by the police union for his handling of protests critical of officers, briefly attended Officer Rafael Ramos' viewing at the Christ Tabernacle Church in Queens, where Ramos was brought in a flag-draped casket and viewed in full dress uniform.
"Dad, I'm forever grateful of the sacrifices you made to provide for me and Jaden," Ramos' son, Justin, said during the wake, referring to his younger brother, as officers gathered in the street watched on giant television screens.
Ramos' funeral is scheduled for Saturday. Vice President Joseph Biden and Mayor de Blasio have said they'll attend. The funeral for Ramos' partner, Officer Wenjian Liu, hasn't yet been announced.
Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/wake-held-1-2-slain-nypd-officers-064432228.html
Blue_In_AK
(46,436 posts)police die in the line of duty all the time and not this much fuss is made. Two troopers were killed up here a couple years ago, and while the funeral was well attended by state law enforcement, it wasn't such a big production. Two town cops were killed in SE Alaska also in the recent past, also with not much fanfare. Is it just because this is New York and there's the racial component?
I'm not meaning to seem heartless. This is an honest question.
branford
(4,462 posts)When police are killed in the line of duty in NYC is it a very big deal, with thousands of uniformed officers usually in attendance. This is not to diminish the importance or sacrifices of officers in other jurisdictions, but the scale is simply exponentially larger here.
In this instance, the current political climate and press were highly critical of police and related racial issues generally, and the NYPD specifically due to the grand jury refusal to indict the officer in the Eric Garner choking death, with thousands protesting in NYC and elsewhere. Some of those protests in NYC, albeit a minority, actually called for the death of police officers. Police unions were both angry and concerned about officer safety everywhere, and is typical of NYC and our labor politics, the union rhetoric between the traditionally conservative NYPD police unions and our new, very liberal mayor, was definitely "less than diplomatic." When Officers Ramos and Liu were assassinated, and the individual responsible wrote social media posting about how his acts were in retaliation for other police misconduct, the already overheated rhetoric exploded.
The wakes and funerals of the murdered officers have therefore become a political focus that even exceeds the usual regalia of NYPD funerals. Politicians are eager to attend to show their "balance" between protester and police, and reflect their constituent sympathies, and officers far and wide are similarly interested in appearing to show solidarity with the NYPD and to fight against what they believe are unfair portrayals of police everywhere.
In any event, I extend my condolences to the families and friends of all good police officers killed in the line of duty, whether they be from huge urban departments like NYC or small towns in rural Alaska. God bless.
Blue_In_AK
(46,436 posts)I guess it's true that we up here don't have the political overlay that the big city police departments do. Your police department is bigger than most Alaskan towns.
THECHOSEN1
(36 posts)Did their killers say it was revenge for other police actions that were in the media?
Blue_In_AK
(46,436 posts)Here's the report on the troopers' deaths
http://www.adn.com/article/20140501/two-alaska-state-troopers-killed-tanana-shooting
Here's the one on the police in Hoonah. It sounds like this one might have been somewhat anticipated. The shooter had a mental issue, like the shooter in New York. This one especially is execution-style and could be seen as having a revengeful motivation.
http://www.theolympian.com/2010/09/01/1790222/hoonah-police-were-wary-of-shooting.html