Following the shooting of two New York City police officers in Brooklyn, police unions criticized Mayor Bill de Blasio for resentment of the police.
Patrick Lynch, the president of the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association, said that de Blasio was partially to blame for the shooting.
“There’s blood on many hands tonight. Those that incited violence on the streets under the guise of protest that tried to tear down what NYPD officers did every day. We tried to warn it must not go on, it cannot be tolerated,” Lynch said, according to CBS New York. “That blood on the hands starts at City Hall in the office of the mayor.”
“Those who allowed this to happen will be held accountable,” Lynch continued.
The Sergeants Benevolent Association echoed Lynch’s criticism of de Blasio.
The blood of 2 executed police officers is on the hands of Mayor de Blasio. May God bless their families and may they rest in peace.
— SBA (@SBANYPD) December 21, 2014
According to New York television station PIX 11, when de Blasio walked through Woodhull Hospital on Saturday for a press conference about the deaths of the two police officers, the officers in the hospital hallways turned their backs on the mayor.
A spokesman for de Blasio on Saturday said it was “irresponsible” for police unions to criticize the mayor over the deaths of police officers.
“It’s unfortunate that in a time of great tragedy, some would resort to irresponsible, overheated rhetoric that angers and divides people,” spokesman Phil Walzak said. “Mayor de Blasio understands this is the time when we must come together to support the families and friends of those brave officers New York City lost tonight — and the entire NYPD community.”
Police officers Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu were shot in the head on Saturday while sitting in a patrol car in Brooklyn. The suspect, Ismaaiyl Brinsley, then shot himself in the head. On his social media accounts, Brinsley indicated that he was angry at the police over the death of Eric Garner.
Patrick Lynch needs to calm down.
Enough craziness to go around in this country.
“There’s blood on many hands tonight. Those that incited violence on the streets under the guise of protest that tried to tear down what NYPD officers did every day.”
Bullshit.
Nobody incited anyone to violence. A man with a gun and a suicide wish wanted to go out in a blaze of glory.
This has nothing to do with Eric Garner or the protests except to have provided him with an excuse and a stage.
“Those who allowed this to happen will be held accountable,” Lynch continued.
Does anyone else think that all of these recent executions of unarmed citizens, adults and children alike, were intended to provoke just this situation, so that eventually the entire populace can be “held accountable”?
People like the talking heads of Fox News have been predicting a race war for years, and I think they were becoming frustrated that it hasn’t happened yet. So the powers that be equip the police like an invading army and kill enough unarmed kids and minor offenders that it becomes inevitable that someone will respond in kind. After all, they first made sure that the average citizen could have as many non-automatic weapons as they could afford, insuring a minimal capability to kill a handful of the oppressors.
To me, this looks like a plan to implement a nationwide series of laws and police crackdowns that will make the Soviet Union of the 1960s look like child’s play.
I hope I’m overreacting…
Normally I support unions, but this guy is turning out to be a real asshole. Politicizing this tragedy is about a as low as it gets, and by the way he is totally wrong. Sloppy, unprofessional police work is responsible, and the cops need to clean up their act, or get fired before someone else gets killed.