TEHRAN, July 12, YJC - Several hundred white police NYPD officers turned their backs in a show of solidarity against New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, who has been critical of police brutality against minorities.
TEHRAN, Young Journalists Club (YJC) - The incident happened on Tuesday when the mayor delivered his eulogy at the funeral of slain Officer Miosotis Familia at World Changers Church in The Bronx.
The anger was caused by de Blasio’s visit to Germany to participate in a protest event against the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany, a day after the execution of 12-year NYPD veteran Familia.
The liberal mayor addressed the rally in Hamburg that has been dubbed a “tolerant, diverse, and nonviolent” event.
“The mayor is the compass for the City of New York,” Patrick Lynch, head of the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association, said before the funeral. “And unfortunately, when a police officer got killed, his compass led him to Germany rather than here on the Grand Concourse.”
“He should have been here with the family. ... He should have been there with us,” he added.
Familia, a 48-year-old single mother-of-three, was shot to death in The Bronx as she made notes in her patrol car on the morning of July 5. The shooter was gunned down by other officers as he tried to flee.
De Blasio has been under fire from police officers for his ambivalence over Black Lives Matter protests, as well as the bold remarks he made following the NYPD chokehold death of Eric Garner.
Garner, a 43-year-old African American, died after being placed in the chokehold by a white police officer on Staten Island on July 17, 2014, Presstv reported.
At the time, the New York mayor said he and his wife Chirlane McCray, who is black, had long trained their teenage son Dante to “take special care” in any encounter with police officers.
“We have to have an honest conversation in this country about the history of racism and the problem that has caused parents to feel their children may be in danger in their dynamics with police, when in fact the police are there to protect them,” he said.
“What parents have done for decades who have children of color, especially young men of color, is train them to be very careful whenever they have an encounter with a police officer. It’s different for a white child. That’s just the reality of this country,” he stated.
De Blasio has often spoken against racial discrimination in law enforcement against African-Americans and other minorities, Presstv reported.
He has said his city “will not stand for discrimination or harassment of any kind."
According to different surveys, two-thirds of young blacks and about half of Latinos in the US say that they or someone they know has experienced police violence or harassment.
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