The union that represents New York City police is asking officers to sign a statement directed at Mayor Bill de Blasio regarding his attendance at funerals for cops killed in the line of duty — in short, that statement says the mayor isn't wanted there.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, left, discusses investigation details Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2014, in New York, along with New York City Police Commissioner William Bratton, center, after an incident in the early morning hours in which a man with a history of mental illness slipped into the headquarters of a major Jewish organization in the Brooklyn borough and stabbed an Israeli student in the head as he was studying in the library. (Image source: AP/Craig Ruttle)
The Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association called attention to the flier that police can sign via Web site: “DON’T LET THEM INSULT YOUR SACRIFICE!”
The instructions read: "Download and sign a request that Mayor de Blasio and City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito stay away from your funeral in the event that you are killed in the line of duty. Completed forms may be given to your PBA delegate."
The statement points out that de Blasio and Mark-Viverito aren't wanted at the funerals over their "consistent refusal to show police officers the support and respect they deserve." The mayor traditionally attends funerals for fallen officers, the New York Post noted.
Image source: Patrolmen's Benevolent Association website
De Blasio and city council speaker released a joint statement calling the request from the police union "(i)ncendiary rhetoric" that was “deeply disappointing."
"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," the statement reads, according to the Post.
More from the Post:
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 reacted to that by accusing the mayor of throwing cops “under the bus.”
This story has been updated with video.
(H/T: New York Post)
