The NYPD gathered yesterday to pay their final respects to one of their own, Miosotis Familia. Police believe the killer targeted the 48-year-old officer simply because of her uniform; her murder is thus best described as an assassination.
So imagine the NYPD’s feelings when the mayor decided that the unprovoked murder of one of their own was an insufficient reason to stay put in New York City. He instead decided to attend the protests of the G-20 summit in Hamburg, Germany: not the summit itself, but the protests. Which were so violent, several hundred police suffered injuries.
It played exactly as you think it might among the NYPD:
Hundreds of NYPD officers on Tuesday turned their backs on Mayor de Blasio — again — at the funeral of a cop.
The disgusted Finest were assembled outside the World Changers Church in The Bronx on Tuesday as part of the overflow crowd of mourners for assassinated Officer Miosotis Familia.
They showed the building their backs as speakers broadcast de Blasio’s eulogy for Familia from inside.
The protest came after de Blasio skipped town to participate in protests at the G-20 summit in Germany last week — the day after Familia was killed by cop-hating gunman Alexander Bonds.
And as he prepared for the trip, the mayor missed a swearing-in ceremony for new police recruits, an event that was especially poignant in light of Familia’s murder.
Frankly, de Blasio had no business being at the G-20 summit under just about any circumstances. It might have been different if the NYC mayor was a key part of the official proceedings, but he wasn’t. He actually went to show solidarity with the protesters, who then set Hamburg ablaze with riots.
He had official duties to attend to with the NYPD anyway, and he definitely had a responsibility to be there in light of Familia’s assassination. But nah, responsibilities are for chumps.
What we’re seeing is a combination of things. One, de Blasio’s radical progressive politics are far more important to him than the responsibilities of his office. It appears his desire to be mayor begins and ends with his ability to enact a radical progressive agenda. There is no evidence he cares for the men and women who put their lives on the line for his city each and every day.
Is this because it’s unpopular in his progressive circles to support the police?
Mayor de Blasio — and I use his title here to remind him of his office — needs to remember that those are people who answer to him. The police commissioner isn’t the top of the food chain. He is. That means the buck stops with him, and those men and women who turned their backs on him today know that.
What they saw was how little regard the mayor holds for the dangers they face. He gave them a symbolic middle finger by attending protests at an economic summit that put thousands of German police in mortal danger.
Speaking at the funeral didn’t negate de Blasio’s decision — he probably shouldn’t have attended at all, given that his attendance took the focus off the respect being shown to the fallen hero.
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