New York City’s Finest want to put an end to the long-standing tradition of the mayor’s appearance at the funerals of fallen police officers — at least so long as Hizzoner happens to be uber-liberal Bill de Blassio.
This move came after repeated insults and attacks by the mayor and City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, accusing the police of racism, according to the New York Post. The feeling is that for either official to appear at the funeral of an officer killed in the line of duty would amount to nothing short of hypocrisy.
The Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association is urging its members to sign and submit a “Don’t Insult My Sacrifice” waiver, telling both the mayor and speaker to stay away from their funerals.
“I, as a New York City police officer, request that Mayor Bill de Blasio and City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito refrain from attending my funeral services in the event that I am killed in the line of duty,” the waiver states.
“Due to Mayor de Blasio and Speaker Mark-Viverito’s consistent refusal to show police officers the support and respect they deserve, I believe that their attendance at the funeral of a fallen New York City police officer is an insult to that officer’s memory and sacrifice.”
Both the mayor and speaker appeared flummoxed. Their offices issued a joint statement that read:
This is deeply disappointing. Incendiary rhetoric like this serves only to divide the city, and New Yorkers reject these tactics.
The mayor and the speaker both know better than to think this inappropriate stunt represents the views of the majority of police officers and their families.
De Blasio should know better than to accuse the PBA and its officers-members of engaging in “Incendiary rhetoric” given his own recent comments.
The Post reported:
Sources say the revolt was sparked by the mayor’s lack of support for the NYPD following the grand jury’s decision not to indict the officer involved in the death of Staten Islander Eric Garner.
De Blasio added fuel to that fire in a press conference about the grand-jury vote where he said he had warned his 17-year-old, mixed-race son, Dante, to be careful around police officers.
“We’ve had to literally train him, as families have all over this city for decades, in how to take special care in any encounter he has with the police officers who are there to protect him,” the mayor said.
PBA President Patrick Lynch’s response was that the mayor threw cops “under the bus.”
De Blasio claimed racism was at the core of the Eric Garner death. He announced, according to MegynKelly.us:
We’re not just dealing with a problem in 2014. We’re not just dealing with years of racism leading up to it or decades of racism. We are dealing with centuries of racism that have brought us to this day. That is how profound the crisis is.
Really?
As of the end of 2010, 53% of New York City’s 34,526-member force are white; the remaining 47% are minorities. Of those who are on patrol and more likely to interact with the public. more than half — 53% — are minorities, according to The Wall Street Journal.
