On Friday morning, a large banner flew over NYC. It read, “DE BLASIO OUR BACKS HAVE TURNED TO YOU.” This is an apparent reference to the incident last week in which police officers turned their backs on Mayor Bill de Blasio when he visited the hospital where two cops died after being shot, execution style, by a crazy person.
Following the incident, some unions made hyperbolic statements, with Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association President Patrick Lynch claiming the mayor had “blood on his hands.” Following those strong statements, Governor Andrew Cuomo asked police unions to refrain from stoking division and Police Commissioner Bill Bratton condemned police for turning their backs on the mayor.
Blogger and former NYPD officer John Cardillo claims a coalition of officers asked him to disseminate an official statement when the banner they commissioned was in the air. One segment that stands out as strange is that the officers are blaming the city’s civil unrest on the mayor’s comments “about his and his wife’s concern for their [African-American] son’s safety at the hands of the NYPD.” Rather than blaming tensions on any current events, they seem to believe that the biggest problem is de Blasio’s public acknowledgement that his son is statistically more likely to be targeted without cause by the police due to the color of his skin, which is an undeniable fact.
You can read the full statement below:
“As a large and unified group of current and retired NYC Police Officers, Detectives, & Supervisors, we are outraged by the mayor’s incendiary rhetoric, and for facilitating the current hostile climate towards the NYPD. We understand that the department and even our own unions can only go so far in their public condemnation of the mayor as to not irreparably damage the working relationship with the city, or future contract negotiations.
It is our opinion that Mayor deBlasio’s [sic] dangerous and irresponsible comments about his and his wife’s concern for their son’s safety at the hands of the NYPD fueled the flames that led to civil unrest, and potentially to the deaths of PO Wenjian Liu and PO Rafael Ramos, as well as the continued threats against NYPD personnel. The Mayor shows us no respect, and encourages the public to follow his lead.
Mayor deBlasio clearly doesn’t understand nor care that every man and woman of the NYPD would give their life to protect his son, his family, and every other resident of New York City. Tragically, two of our Finest made that ultimate sacrifice days before Christmas.
We no longer have confidence in Mayor deBlasio, nor in his ability to lead New York City and promote the values that both the NYPD and the good law abiding citizens of the city hold dear. Mayor deBlasio turned his back on us long before we turned our backs on him.”
(Photo: Breaking911)
