VIDEO:NYPD Officers Salute Mayor at Fallen Officer's Wake, Turn Backs to Him at Funeral
Video: NYPD Officers Salute Mayor at Fallen Officer's Wake, Turn Backs to Him at Funeral
At Liu's funeral the bitterness between the police and the mayor was once again on display as dozens of officers turned their backs on de Blasio as he spoke. The protest defied a request from the city’s police chief not to use the funeral to protest the mayor.
January 5, 2015
NYPD officers saluted Mayor Bill de Blasio Saturday as he accompanied the city's Police Commissioner Bill Bratton into a Brooklyn funeral home for the wake of slain Officer Wenjian Liu.
But the next day at Liu's funeral the bitterness between the police and the mayor was once again on display as dozens of officers turned their backs on de Blasio as he spoke. The protest defied a request from the city’s police chief not to use the funeral to protest the mayor.
“This city welcomed detective Liu,” de Blasio said, delivering a eulogy at the service. “New York stands a little taller today because of the time he walked among us.”
Officer Wenjian Liu was shot and killed along with his partner Rafael Ramos on Dec. 20 by a man who targeted the officers. The funeral for Liu had been delayed to allow family members to travel from China for the services, Time.com reports.
Liu moved to New York from China before joining the NYPD. Both the officer’s father and newlywed wife also delivered emotional eulogies for their fallen loved one.
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