Police Outside Rafael Ramos Funeral Turn Backs on de Blasio

Hundreds of officers standing outside the church where a funeral is being held for a New York City policeman killed in an ambush shooting have turned their backs on the mayor as he spoke during the service.
Police Outside Rafael Ramos Funeral Turn Backs on de Blasio
(L-R) New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, with his wife Chirlane McCray, greet Police Commissioner Bill Bratton and his wife Rikki Klieman outside the funeral of slain New York Police Department (NYPD) officer Rafael Ramos at the Christ Tabernacle Church in New York City on Dec. 27, 2014. Kevin Hagen/Getty Images
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NEW YORK—Hundreds of officers outside the church where a funeral was held for a policeman killed along with his partner in an ambush shooting turned their backs on the mayor as he spoke during Saturday’s service.

The reaction from officers watching Officer Rafael Ramos’ funeral on giant TV screens followed comments from police union officials who had said Mayor Bill de Blasio contributed to a climate of mistrust that contributed to the killings of the two New York Police Department officers.

Inside Christ Tabernacle Church in Queens, however, mourners gave de Blasio polite applause before and after his speech.

The mayor said hearts citywide were aching after the Dec. 20 shootings that left Ramos and his partner, Wenjian Liu, dead.

“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.”

Police union officials have blamed de Blasio for fostering anti-police sentiment for his support of protesters angry that no charges will be filed in the police deaths of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, and Eric Garner on Staten Island. At a hospital after the officers’ slayings, the police union’s president, Patrick Lynch, and others turned their backs on de Blasio in a sign of disrespect. Lynch said the mayor had “blood on his hands.”