Throng packs officer's funeral

Thousands travel from across U.S. to mourn NYC lawman

Thousands of police officers and others salute during the National Anthem as the funeral of New York City police officer Rafael Ramos begins at Christ Tabernacle Church in the Glendale section of Queens, where he was a member, Saturday, Dec. 27, 2014, in New York. Ramos and his partner, officer Wenjian Liu, were killed Dec. 20 as they sat in their patrol car on a Brooklyn street. The shooter, Ismaaiyl Brinsley, later killed himself.  (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle)
Thousands of police officers and others salute during the National Anthem as the funeral of New York City police officer Rafael Ramos begins at Christ Tabernacle Church in the Glendale section of Queens, where he was a member, Saturday, Dec. 27, 2014, in New York. Ramos and his partner, officer Wenjian Liu, were killed Dec. 20 as they sat in their patrol car on a Brooklyn street. The shooter, Ismaaiyl Brinsley, later killed himself.  (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle)

NEW YORK -- In an overwhelming display of solidarity and sorrow, tens of thousands of police officers from across the country joined with the New York Police Department on Saturday to pay their respects to a fallen officer.

They came for the funeral of officer Rafael Ramos, who was gunned down Dec. 20 along with his partner, officer Wenjian Liu, as the two men sat in their patrol car on a Brooklyn street, targeted because of the badges they wore.

Maritza Ramos was handed the carefully folded Police Department flag that had been draped on her husband's coffin, her sons by her side. Officers lining the roads outside the church snapped to attention to offer a final salute as taps was played. A formation of 12 helicopters flew overhead.

But this farewell carried a deeper resonance, emotionally and politically, coming at a time of heightened tension between police and communities across the nation. On the streets around the church, scores of New York City police officers used the occasion to once again make a statement about what they feel is a lack of support from City Hall -- turning their backs when Mayor Bill de Blasio delivered his remarks.

More broadly, the funeral was a moment for the police, a moment to reaffirm their bond of blue.

"When an assassin's bullet targeted two officers, it targeted this city and it touched the soul of an entire nation," said Vice President Joe Biden, who spoke at the funeral along with de Blasio, Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Police Commissioner William J. Bratton.

Biden was voicing a sentiment that has coursed through the city over the past several days and that was palpable outside the Christ Tabernacle Church in Queens, where Ramos was celebrated and mourned Friday and Saturday.

In the weeks and days before the shooting, protesters had taken to the streets in cities across the country to denounce the criminal justice system as unfair to blacks.

But often the police themselves were the target of their rage, and many officers have expressed a sense of feeling besieged.

Rudy Zotter, 51, now retired, worked for years in the Special Victims Unit and said he had been to 88 funerals dating to 1985.

"This funeral is different from all funerals I've been to because right now there's a public outcry in law enforcement," Zotter said.

"You have to come out to support people in a very bad time," Zotter said. "With the beatings law enforcement has taken all over the country, this is a way of everyone showing support in a friendly way."

Speaking inside the church, Cuomo said that he watched the recent protests and saw "people hurling insults" directly in the faces of the police officers -- but that the police did their jobs, no matter how vicious or personal the invective.

"Every New Yorker stands with you today," Cuomo said.

In recent days, a number of threats against police officers have been reported, and Cuomo said, "No group is above the law; no intimidation, no politics will ever change that."

De Blasio, who spoke after Cuomo, praised Ramos and all those who choose to serve the city in uniform.

"Our hearts are aching today," de Blasio said. "We feel it physically. We feel it deeply. New York City has lost a hero."

"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."

Backs to the mayor

But even as the mayor spoke, a crowd of officers turned their backs to the image of de Blasio on a large screen. The New York City officers acted first and then officers from other departments followed.

Asked whether they faced away because the mayor was speaking, one of them slowly nodded his head yes.

Another officer, Sgt. Myron Joseph of the New Rochelle Police Department, later said he and fellow officers turned their backs spontaneously to "support our brothers in the NYPD."

In a statement, de Blasio's spokesman said: "The Ramos and Liu families, our police department and our city are dealing with an unconscionable tragedy. Our sole focus is unifying this city and honoring the lives of our two police officers."

The Police Department said through its public relations office that it had no comment.

Officer Dustin Lindaman of the Waterloo Police Department flew from Iowa to attend the funeral.

"He's one of our brothers, and when this happens, it affects everyone in law enforcement -- it absolutely affects everyone," he said.

A block from the church, retired New York police officer John Mangan held a sign that read: "God Bless the NYPD. Dump de Blasio."

"If the mayor really wanted to do the right thing, he would have gotten into an NYPD car and rode around Bed Stuy and see the difficult jobs these cops do every day," Mangan said.

The funeral was a stark coda to a wrenching week for the Police Department.

The man who killed the officers, Ismaaiyl Brinsley, had said on social media that he intended to kill police officers, drawing apparent inspiration from the ongoing protests of the police. He killed himself minutes later in a nearby subway station.

On Friday, the official ceremonies began with the wake for Ramos, a 40-year-old married father of two who, along with Liu, was promoted posthumously to first-grade detective.

As Ramos' son Justin, a college student, spoke at the memorial service, his words played on giant television screens outside the church so that the thousands who came to pay tribute could hear.

"Dad, I'm forever grateful of the sacrifices you made to provide for me and Jaden," he said, referring to his younger brother.

"My dad would have been there for everyone, and to see so many people here for him is a testament to who he is as a person. It has been so helpful during this time."

Ramos had been studying to become a chaplain in the Police Department, and on Saturday, Bratton, the police commissioner, said the officer would now hold the title of honorary chaplain for the 84th Precinct, the Brooklyn station house where he was assigned.

Bratton sought to comfort the Ramos' sons.

"We are your family now, just as we were your dad's," he said.

Services for Liu, 32, have been delayed until members of his family can make arrangements to travel from their home in China. He was known to celebrate his faith privately, and friends of the family said such a public funeral could be difficult.

Shortly after the end of Ramos' funeral, about 200 people marched through a section of Brooklyn on Saturday afternoon to protest the death of Akai Gurley, an unarmed black man who was fatally shot last month by a police officer in a public-housing project stairwell.

Gurley's relatives led the demonstration from the building in the Louis H. Pink Houses where the shooting occurred to a nearby police command post.

De Blasio previously had called on protesters to put down their signs in mourning of the slain officers.

Information for this article was contributed by Marc Santora, Sandra E. Garcia, Elizabeth A. Harris, N.R. Kleinfield and Dan Glaun of The New York Times; by Jonathan Lemire and Mike Balsamo of The Associated Press; and by Scott Moritz and Tom Schoenberg of Bloomberg News.

A Section on 12/28/2014

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