NYC Protesters Spurn Calls to Halt Demonstrations
New York City's mayor is calling for protests to stop until after the funerals of the two officers who were murdered in an ambush over the weekend.
Officers Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu were killed in Brooklyn Saturday by 28-year-old Ismaaiyl Brinsley, who shot them to death as they sat in their patrol car.
Ramos, who will be buried Saturday, was supposed to be commissioned as a lay chaplain on the day he died.
He was a Christian who saw his job as a ministry to the community he served, The Christian Post reports. He had just completed a 10-week chaplain training course and would have graduated last weekend.
Officer Liu's funeral will be scheduled once family members arrive from China. He'd only been married to his wife, Pei Xia Chen, for two months when he died.
"We are in a very difficult moment. Our focus has to be on these families," New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said. "I think it's a time for everyone to put aside political debates, put aside protests, put aside all of the things that we will talk about in all due time."
But so far, protest leaders say they will not stop the demonstrations while the funerals are held.
"This lone gunman who was certainly antithetical to everything we stand for, was not a member of the movement and therefore should not be able to alter the movement or alter policing," Rev. Al Sharpton told the Daily News.
"Those police were there protecting our community and must be respected and regarded. And the issue that bad cops bring up also must be dealt with. That cant change, he said.
Meanwhile, new details are emerging about the shooter. Authorities say Brinsley watched and made a cell phone video of a protest over police-involved shootings earlier this month, but did not participate.
The situation has police cautious of copycats. New numbers show officers killed in the line of duty are up 23 percent over last year.
