Thousands of NYPD Officers Turn Their Backs as de Blasio Speaks at Funeral

Thousands of NYPD officers turned their backs on Mayor Bill de Blasio as televisions broadcasted his speech at Officer Rafael Ramos’s funeral Saturday morning.

Section of NYPD in Myrtle Av block from church turn their backs as Mayor Bill de Blasio speaks @ #RafaelRamos funeral pic.twitter.com/kfyEWZGFg0

— Joe Jackson (@joejackson) December 27, 2014

After initially facing forward nearly all NYPD & other officers have now turned their backs as Mayor de Blasio speaks pic.twitter.com/Fz2wHKZNXn — Joe Jackson (@joejackson) December 27, 2014

1000s of police officers on Myrtle Av turn their backs on Mayor de Blasio as spoke at #NYPD funeral of #RafaelRamos pic.twitter.com/TV39TBRgQ7

— Joe Jackson (@joejackson) December 27, 2014

Cops turning their backs on Mayor de Blasio outside #RafaelRamos funeral didnt appear prearranged; began in 1 section, then seemed to spread — Joe Jackson (@joejackson) December 27, 2014

Before and during Bill De Blasio speaking at #rafaelramos funeral. Officers turn backs to screen airing speech. @cnn pic.twitter.com/6cma4M7bCK

— Rosa Flores (@RosaFlores) December 27, 2014

Officers turn their backs during Mayor de Blasio’s remarks pic.twitter.com/7k32whsIfA — Mark Morales (@MarkMorales51) December 27, 2014

Officers from New York, elsewhere join ordinary citizens in turning their backs as NYC Mayor de Blasio speaks. pic.twitter.com/zNmjxLH6Pc

— Laura Crimaldi (@lauracrimaldi) December 27, 2014

The NYPD’s ceremonial unit gave Officer Ramos’s widow an American flag.

Officer Ramos’ widow receives American flag from NYPD ceremonial unit. pic.twitter.com/IpCphRFbjv — Mary Murphy (@MurphyPIX) December 27, 2014

#nypd helicopters in formation for the funeral of officer #rafaelramos more on @CNN https://t.co/slcNBcKbeb

— Rosa Flores (@RosaFlores) December 27, 2014

Airliner Jet Blue sent officers around the country to Ramos’s funeral.

.@JetBlue provided nearly 700 cops from around the country with free flights to attend Officer Rafael Ramos’ funeral. http://t.co/N7sblBrekn

— New York Daily News (@NYDailyNews) December 27, 2014

Last Saturday, 28-year-old Ismaaiyl Abdullah Brinsley shot Officers Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu in their patrol car, parked at the Bedford-Stuyvesant Area of Brooklyn at 2:47 PM. Earlier that day, Brinsley posted a photo of a gun with the caption, “I’m Putting Wings on Pigs Today… Let’s Take 2 of Theirs #ShootThePolice #RIPErivGarner #RIPMikeBrown This May Be My Final Post… I’m Putting Pigs in A Blanket.”

Brinsley shot himself in a G-Train subway station after ambushing the officers.

“It’s difficult to find the words,” New York City Police Commissioner William J. Bratton said last Saturday night. “They were quite simply assassinated, targeted for their uniform.”

Both officers were promoted posthumously to detectives first class. Bratton also appointed Ramos as an honorary chaplain, according to CNN.