NYPD union boss slams media and politicians for ‘trying to shame’ police and treating officers like ‘thugs’

O’Meara took issue with the notion that black people should be fearful of being killed by police while they walk through their neighborhoods.

“We all read in the paper all week that, in the black community, mothers are worried about their children getting home from school without being killed by a cop,” O’Meara said. “What world are we living in? That does not happen! It does not happen. I am not Derek Chauvin. They are not him. He killed someone. We didn’t.”

O’Meara also had choice words for legislators and members of the press that he accused of trying to “shame” police officers.

“Everybody’s trying to shame us. Legislators. The press. Everybody’s trying to shame us into being embarrassed of our profession,” he said. “You know what? This [badge] isn’t stained by someone in Minneapolis. It’s still got a shine on it, and so do theirs.”

O’Meara’s impassioned plea comes as some activists, as well as high-profile Democrats such as Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar, have called for the defunding and disbanding of local police departments in response to the death of Floyd, a black man, while in police custody.

In Minneapolis, where Floyd’s death occurred on Memorial Day, the City Council approved a resolution to disband the police department. In Los Angeles, the City Council voted to slash the police department budget by as much as $150 million to be reallocated to community organizations.