On Saturday, two NYPD cops were killed in Bed Stuy by a man who then took his own life with the same gun. At 2:47PM, Ismaaiyl Brinsley, 28, walked up to the passenger side of a patrol car parked near near Myrtle and Tompkins Avenues, pulled out a silver Taurus handgun, and opened fire on Officers Rafael Ramos, 40, and Wenjian Liu, 32. Brinsley fled the scene and headed into the Myrtle–Willoughby G train station. He then shot himself in the head on the platform as police were closing in.
After shooting his girlfriend in the stomach early Saturday morning, Brinsley drove up to Brooklyn from the Baltimore area. He posted the following threat on Instagram:
I’m Putting Wings on Pigs Today. They took 1 Of Ours. Let’s take 2 of Theirs.
Within hours of the shooting, the tragedy quickly morphed into a political issue. The notoriously unhinged police unions slammed De Blasio, claiming it was his fault. “There’s blood on many hands tonight,” said Patrolmen’s Benevolent AssociationPresident Patrick Lynch. “That blood . . . starts on the steps of City Hall, in the Office of the Mayor.” Lynch was making a connection between the tragedy and the recent spate of protests against police violence. When De Blasio and company arrived at Woodhull Hospital hours after the cops were pronounced dead, officers turned their backs on him.
George Pataki ratcheted up the outrage and blame. “Sickened by these barbaric acts, which sadly are a predictable outcome of divisive anti-cop rhetoric of Eric Holder and Mayor de Blasio,” wrote the Republican ex-governor on Twitter.
Terrible person and congressman Peter King (R-NY) zeroed in on the real culprits as well: It’s “time for elected officials to stand by the men and women of law enforcement and end the demeaning of police officers and grand juries.”
“But I don’t think it goes too far to say the mayor did not properly police the protests,” said former mayor Rudy Giuliani. “He allowed the protesters to take over the streets. He allowed them to hurt police officers, to commit crimes, and he didn’t arrest them…For that he has to take accountability.” He then went on to explain how it was all President Obama’s fault:
“We’ve had four months of propaganda, starting with the president, that everybody should hate the police,” said Giuliani during an appearance on “Fox News Sunday.” “I don’t care how you want to describe it — that’s what those protests are all about.”
And just like that, a narrative was established: Police protesting-gunman sought revenge for the death of Eric Garner. Of course, there’s probably a much simpler reality… As comedian Chris Rock once famously said: “Whatever happened to crazy?”
(Photo: Aymann Ismail/ANIMALNewYork)
