New York reeled on Sunday after the murder of two uniformed cops by a man who investigators say told bystanders to “watch what I’m going to do” just before the killings.
Candles, flowers and a US flag were placed at a makeshift memorial at the scene of the shooting, which apparently was out of revenge for the recent killings of unarmed black men by police.
A somber mass was held at Saint Patrick’s Cathedral in Manhattan and the New York Jets football team held a moment of silence. After nightfall, supporters gathered for a candlelight vigil, singing and saying prayers.
Photo: AFP
The two officers — Wenjian Liu, 32, and Rafael Ramos, 40 — were shot in the head through the window of their patrol car in broad daylight on Saturday in Brooklyn in an attack that shocked the US’ biggest city just days before Christmas.
Police named the shooter as Ismaaiyl Brinsley, 28. He fled to a nearby subway station after the attack, where he shot himself in the head on the platform.
Investigators said Brinsley had shot his ex-girlfriend, who survived, at her apartment outside Baltimore , Maryland, before heading for New York.
Just before the shooting, Brinsley spoke with bystanders, asking them about their gang affiliation, urging them to follow him on Instagram and to “watch what I’m going to do,” New York Police Department chief of detectives Robert Boyce said.
“They Take 1 of Ours... Let’s Take 2 of Theirs,” read a comment seemingly written by Brinsley on Instagram just hours before the assault, next to a photograph of a silver handgun.
Brinsley had been arrested at least 19 times, mostly while living in Georgia, on charges ranging from disorderly conduct to terror threats, Boyce said.
Brinsley’s mother was afraid of her son, who had a “very troubled” childhood, was often violent and had tried to commit suicide, he said.
The double killing, in a city where murders are at their lowest rates in 20 years, further strained the already fraught relations between New York Mayor Bill de Blasio and police.
A number of officers, in apparent homage to their slain colleagues, turned their backs to the mayor at the hospital where the two cops were pronounced dead.
Police officers accuse De Blasio of failing to support them and of being too sympathetic to demonstrators who, in recent weeks, have been protesting police violence against African Americans.
“Mayor de Blasio ... the blood of these two officers is clearly on your hands,” said Edward Mullins, president of the Sergeants Benevolent Association of about 11,000 active or retired New York police officers.
De Blasio responded to criticism — including from former New York governor George Pataki — by calling for an end to “irresponsible, overheated rhetoric that angers and divides people.”
At a news conference outside Ramos’ childhood home, 75th Precinct Community Council president Juan Rodriguez called for reform.
“Mr Mayor, you need to have a sit down and you need to get everything corrected from the mayor’s office down. This is wrong,” he said.
In a Facebook posting, Ramos’ 13-year-old son, Jaden, wrote that he was mourning the death of the “best father.”
“Today is the worst day of my life,” he wrote.
A foundation set up by the late owner of the Yankees baseball team said it would pay for the education of Ramos’ children, according to the New York Daily News.
Many in the black American community have been angered by recent killings of unarmed black men by police, which have sparked nationwide protests.
In July, Eric Garner, an unarmed father of six, died in New York after police held him in a chokehold while he was being arrested for illegally selling cigarettes.
Michael Brown, an 18-year-old in Ferguson, a suburb of St Louis, Missouri, was shot dead by a police officer in August.
Grand jury decisions not to indict the white officers responsible triggered mass protests in New York and other US cities.
Boyce said Brinsley had specifically mentioned Brown and Garner on Instagram and had made other postings of “self-despair or anger” at the state of his life.
Amid a chorus of calls for calm and unity, US President Barack Obama “unconditionally” condemned the killings, and urged Americans “to reject violence and words that harm, and turn to words that heal.”
The families of Garner and Brown also urged the public not to commit “any kind of violence directed toward members of law enforcement. It cannot be tolerated. We must work together to bring peace to our communities.”
As the sun sets on another scorching Yangon day, the hot and bothered descend on the Myanmar city’s parks, the coolest place to spend an evening during yet another power blackout. A wave of exceptionally hot weather has blasted Southeast Asia this week, sending the mercury to 45°C and prompting thousands of schools to suspend in-person classes. Even before the chaos and conflict unleashed by the military’s 2021 coup, Myanmar’s creaky and outdated electricity grid struggled to keep fans whirling and air conditioners humming during the hot season. Now, infrastructure attacks and dwindling offshore gas reserves mean those who cannot afford expensive diesel
Does Argentine President Javier Milei communicate with a ghost dog whose death he refuses to accept? Forced to respond to questions about his mental health, the president’s office has lashed out at “disrespectful” speculation. Twice this week, presidential spokesman Manuel Adorni was asked about Milei’s English Mastiff, Conan, said to have died seven years ago. Milei, 53, had Conan cloned, and today is believed to own four copies he refers to as “four-legged children.” Or is it five? In an interview with CNN this month, Milei referred to his five dogs, whose faces and names he had engraved on the presidential baton. Conan,
French singer Kendji Girac, who was seriously injured by a gunshot this week, wanted to “fake” his suicide to scare his partner who was threatening to leave him, prosecutors said on Thursday. The 27-year-old former winner of France’s version of The Voice was found wounded after police were called to a traveler camp in Biscarrosse on France’s southwestern coast. Girac told first responders he had accidentally shot himself while tinkering with a Colt .45 automatic pistol he had bought at a junk shop, a source said. On Thursday, regional prosecutor Olivier Janson said, citing the singer, that he wanted to “fake” his suicide
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi reaffirmed his pledge to replace India’s religion-based marriage and inheritance laws with a uniform civil code if he returns to office for a third term, a move that some minority groups have opposed. In an interview with the Times of India listing his agenda, Modi said his government would push for making the code a reality. “It is clear that separate laws for communities are detrimental to the health of society,” he said in the interview published yesterday. “We cannot be a nation where one community is progressing with the support of the Constitution while the other