NEW YORK — Thousands of police officers from across the nation packed a church and spilled onto streets Saturday to honor Officer Rafael Ramos as a devoted family man, aspiring chaplain and hero, though an air of unrest surrounding his ambush shooting was not completely pushed aside.
While mourners inside the church applauded politely as Mayor Bill de Blasio spoke, hundreds of officers outside turned their backs on him in a show of disrespect for what they see as his support for anti-police protesters.
The rush of officers far and wide to New York for Ramos’ funeral reminded some of the bond after the Sept. 11 attacks and Hurricane Sandy. Vice President Joe Biden promised that the “incredibly diverse city can and will show the nation how to bridge any divide.”
Still, tensions were evident when officers turned away from giant screens showing de Blasio, who has been harshly criticized by New York Police Department union officials as a contributor to a climate of mistrust that preceded the killings of Ramos and his partner, Wenjian Liu.
Sgt. Myron Joseph of the New Rochelle Police Department said he and fellow officers turned their backs to “support our brothers in the NYPD.”
In a statement, de Blasio’s spokesman said, “The Ramos and Liu families, our police department and our city are dealing with an unconscionable tragedy. Our sole focus is unifying this city and honoring the lives of our two police officers.”
The NYPD said through its public relations office that it had no comment.
In his eulogy, de Blasio said hearts citywide were broken after the Dec. 20 shootings.
“All of this city is grieving and grieving for so many reasons,” de Blasio said. “But the most personal is that we’ve lost such a good man, and the family is in such pain.”
Gov. Andrew Cuomo praised the sea of blue mourners for their professionalism at recent rallies over police conduct when protesters insulted them, and Biden spoke passionately about the effects of the officers’ deaths.
“When an assassin’s bullet targeted two officers, it targeted this city and it touched the soul of an entire nation,” the vice president said.
Police union officials in contentious contract negotiations with the city have faulted de Blasio for showing sympathy to protesters angry over the police deaths of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., and Eric Garner on Staten Island.
After the funeral, the police union’s president, Patrick Lynch, and de Blasio exchanged nods as they exited the church. Lynch refused to answer reporters’ questions about officers turning their backs.
Developments
• Rallies supporting police: A “Sea of Blue” demonstration Saturday in downtown Cleveland drew several thousand people, a surprise to area police dispatcher Mary Jo Graves, who created the event and promoted it with a Facebook page. Many in the crowd wore blue as requested, walking silently from Public Square to a police memorial park to honor New York Officers Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu. The day before, 50 people turned out for a “Blue Lives Matter Too” rally in Dubuque, Iowa, and another 200 gathered in Atlantic City, N.J.
• Rallies critical of police: About 200 people attended a rally Saturday in Chicago with the Rev. Jesse Jackson, including many who came from Milwaukee to protest the April death of a black man who was shot by a white officer. Former Milwaukee Officer Christopher Manney shot Dontre Hamilton 14 times in a downtown park. Manney was fired in October for ignoring department policy, but the county district attorney announced Monday that he would not file charges because he said Manney acted in self-defense.
• “I Can’t Breathe” shirts banned: The Mendocino High School boys and girls basketball teams were uninvited from a tournament in northern California because of concerns the players would wear “I Can’t Breathe” T-shirts while warming up. The boys team was reinstated after all but one player agreed not to wear the shirts. T
oo few girls accepted the condition to field a squad. The Associated Press