Mourners Attend Funeral for NYPD Officer Ramos, Who ‘Touched the Soul of an Entire Nation’

Thousands of officers from across the country filled the streets Saturday outside the church where a funeral will be held for a policeman shot to death with his partner in an ambush that shook the city and put an end to large-scale local protests criticizing police over a series of high-profile, in-custody deaths.

New York Police Department (NYPD) officers embrace before the funeral of slain NYPD officer Rafael Ramos at the Christ Tabernacle Church in New York City on Dec. 27, 2014. Kevin Hagen/Getty Images

NEW YORK—Thousands of officers from across the country filled the streets Saturday outside the church where a funeral began for a policeman shot to death with his partner in an ambush that shook the city and put an end to large-scale local protests criticizing police over a series of high-profile, in-custody deaths.

The officers in dress blue uniforms arrived at the Christ Tabernacle Church in Queens for the services for Officer Rafael Ramos. Vice President Joe Biden spoke, saying: “When an assassin’s bullet targeted two officers, it targeted this city and it touched the soul of an entire nation.”

U.S. Vice President Joseph Biden and his wife Jill (R) enter the Christ Tabernacle Church for the funeral of slain New York City Police Officer Rafael Ramos on Dec. 27, 2014. Spencer Platt/Getty Images