NYC Mayor: Police Murders Was an ‘Attack on Democracy’

Monday, commenting on the Saturday afternoon murders of NYPD Officer Rafael Ramos and his partner, Officer Wenjian Liu, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said, “We have to understand the attack on them was an attack on all of us. It was an attack on our democracy.”

“These families are now our family and we will stand by them,” he added. “They’re suffering. They’re suffering an unspeakable pain right now. It’s impressive when somehow people can put on a brave face but in the conversations we had, you can tell there’s a lot of fear what the future will hold. And we let them know that we would be there for them, that people such as good people in this room would be there for them, and we would never forget them and never forget the sacrifice of Officer Ramos and Officer Liu who stood for all that is good in this society, and we have to understand the attack on them was an attack on all of us. It was an attack on our democracy, it was an attack on our values and attack on every single New Yorker and we have to see it as such. There’s a lot of pain, and it’s so hard to make sense of it. One deeply troubled violent individual could do this to these good families. And I think it’s a time for everyone to take stock that there are things that unite us and things we hold dear as New Yorkers and as Americans. We all see the prism of the world through our own families. It’s time for people to take stock of this moment. Our first obligation is to respect these families in mourning. Our first obligation is to stand by them in every way we can, and I call upon everyone to focus on these families in these next days.”

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