The five major New York City police unions have agreed to step back from using politically-charged rhetoric against the city’s mayor and anti-police protesters, Police Commissioner Bill Bratton said Monday. The decision came amid calls from city officials for groups protesting police practices to also pause their activities out of respect for the families of two officers gunned down on Saturday.
“I think it’s appropriate that the focus has to be on our murdered officers,” Bratton said in a press conference alongside Mayor Bill de Blasio Monday afternoon.
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De Blasio, the target of fierce criticism following the execution-style killings of Officers Wenjian Liu and Rafael Ramos, echoed the call for protest groups to also refrain from demonstrating until the families of the two fallen officers have been able to prepare funeral arrangements. The mayor also reiterated his belief that demonstrators have the right to gather peacefully to express their views, despite criticism by some police officials that recent protests against police practices may have incited the violence.
“We have to give people faith their concerns can be heard across the spectrum,” de Blasio said.
He later went on to jab members of the media, saying the onus was on them to report on not just instances of violence, but also peace.
“I got calls from all over the country with admiration for the NYPD for the way it protected people’s democratic rights. I heard from so many protesters who appreciated the NYPD. I heard from the NYPD officers and leaders who said they saw peaceful protests, respectful protests,” de Blasio said. “I will keep on saying this over and over, the question is, will you tell the world about it?”
The mayor has been the focus of blame from police unions, who were angered after de Blasio expressed support for protesters and spoke of the need for police reform after a grand jury declined to indict an officer in the the death of Eric Garner, an unarmed black man. De Blasio also suggested at the time that his own biracial son may have something to fear in encounters with law enforcement.
“Let’s respect them while they go through this,” he said of the unions.
The shooting deaths of Ramos and Liu were allegedly perpetrated by a 28-year-old man with a lengthy criminal record and a troubled history. But the attacker’s social media profile shows he may have been motivated in part by the deaths of Garner and other unarmed black men at the hands of police.
The mayor visited the homes of both of the slain officers on Monday, before addressing the public and police at the Police Athletic League. His remarks are the first since he was publicly snubbed by officers who turned their backs to him on Saturday when he entered the hospital where the victims were transported.
Like de Blasio, state and federal officials are working to calm the tensions quickly.
A source close to the police told msnbc that the Obama administration, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, and de Blasio have reached out to the police unions, asking them to not do interviews until things settle down and to not politicize the situation, but more and more officials, former officials, and advocates are weighing in on it as the investigation into the event continues.
Bratton appeared on the “TODAY” show on Monday, attempting to appease both sides: He called the shooting a “direct spin-off” of the protests against acquittals of the officers who killed Eric Garner and Michael Brown, but also spoke out against the officers who turned their backs on the mayor. “I don’t think it was appropriate, particularly in that setting, but it’s reflective of the anger of some of them,” Bratton said.
He went on to defend the mayor, citing increased benefits for officers and a growing budget to help train and upgrade police facilities and technology, but said de Blasio had clearly lost the trust of “some officers.”
President Barack Obama in a statement Sunday condemned the “murder of two police officers,” saying ”two brave men won’t be going home to their loved ones tonight, and for that, there is no justification.”








