On Saturday hundreds of police officers turned their backs on New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio at the funeral for Officer Rafael Ramos.
The police were upset with De Blasio for siding with the violent street protesters and for stirring up racial hatred against the police.
Today on Face the Nation New York City Police Commissioner William Bratton said it was “inappropriate” for police officers to turn their backs on Mayor De Blasio during Saturday’s funeral.
Via CBS News and Free Republic:
New York City Police Commissioner William Bratton said it was “very inappropriate” for officers to turn their backs on New York City Mayor Bill DeBlasio at the funeral for slain NYPD Officer Rafael Ramos. It was the second time officers had done so since the slaying of two NYPD cops.
“That funeral was held to honor Officer Ramos, and to bring politics, to bring issues into that event I think was very inappropriate and I do not support it. He is the mayor of New York, he was there representing the citizens of New York to express their remorse and their regret at that death,” Bratton said on CBS’ “Face the Nation.”
“At the same time it is reflective unfortunately of the feelings of some of our officers at this juncture about not just the mayor but I think about some of the many issues that are afflicting the city at this time and this particular police department,” he added.
Tensions have been running high between DeBlasio and some of the city’s police officers since Ramos and another officer, Wenjian Liu, were shot and killed in their patrol car earlier this month. Police union officials blamed DeBlasio for their deaths, in part because of his public support for people protesting grand jury decisions not to indict police officers who had killed two black men, Michael Brown and Eric Garner.