Thousands of New York police officers yet again turned their backs to their mayor, Bill de Blasio, during his eulogy for slain police officer Detective Wenjian Liu at his Brooklyn funeral.
#NYPD cops turn their backs on Mayor @BilldeBlasio at Det. Wenjian Liu’s funeral, defying @CommissBratton‘s plea. pic.twitter.com/Kzmex1deSV
— Nicole Fuller (@nicolefuller) January 4, 2015
Officers had already turned their backs to the mayor at a Brooklyn hospital and at the funeral of officer Rafael Ramos last month.
NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton asked the officers ahead of Sunday’s funeral to not turn their backs to de Blasio, and to respect “the tradition, honor, and decency” of their uniform. Bratton argued that their dissent “stole the valor, honor, and attention that rightfully belonged to the memory of Detective Rafael Ramos.”
Bratton’s plea appeared to have little impact on most of the officers.
“He [de Blasio] turned his back on us,” one officer told the New York Post.
But not all the officers joined the silent protesters. Tweets from the scene flagged by Gawker and BuzzFeed report that many officers did stand to face de Blasio, sometimes shoulder-to-shoulder with the dissenting officers.
AGAIN: NYPD Turn Their Backs on De Blasio at Fallen Officer’s Funeral [PHOTOS] – http://t.co/MWsCowZess pic.twitter.com/UOfyHLDf6Y
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) January 4, 2015
