Hundreds of NYPD officers attending the funeral for Rafael Ramos — the police officer who was shot to death along with his partner Wenjian Liu in Bed Stuy — turned their backs on screens showing Mayor Bill De Blasio as he spoke at a Queens church on Saturday. The cops were watching the service on monitors outside when they staged the symbolic protest and made the abrupt gesture.
Hundreds of cops turn their backs on screen showing @BilldeBlasio speak pic.twitter.com/lfcm2rlNDW
— Tony Aiello (@AielloTV) December 27, 2014
Last week, members of the police union turned their backs on the mayor when he arrived at the hospital where the two cops were declared dead. Later that night, PBA President Patrick Lynch blamed Mayor De Blasio for the fatal shootings:
“There is blood on many hands tonight — those that incited violence on the streets under the guise of protest, that tried to tear down what New York police officers did every day. That blood on the hands starts on the steps of City Hall, in the office of the mayor.”
A plane that was reportedly hired retired and active cops towed a banner over the city on Friday that read: “DE BLASIO OUR BACKS HAVE TURNED TO YOU.”
(Photo: Joe Jackson)
