Thousands mourn NYPD’s Officer Rafael Ramos in New York City

‘Progressive’ activist mayors in league with community organizer presidents and civil rights activists have power to spare, but not an iota of class.

If New York Mayor Bill de Blasio had any class, he would not have taken advantage of the protocol being mayor of New York allows him, to make a 10-minute speech at the funeral of fallen hero Police Officer Rafael Ramos. Prostrate with grief, Officer Ramos’ family was in no position to keep de Blasio off the mic, at today’s funeral, but hundreds of Ramos’ grieving brothers in their dress uniforms turned their backs on a screen showing de Blasio as he spoke at one of New York’s saddest funerals. Only 40 years of age, Officer Ramos dedicated much of his life serving in the protection of others. An NYPD officer since 2012, he had worked as a school security officer. Officer Ramos, his partner Officer Wenjian Liu, killed on Dec. 20, as they sat in their patrol car on a Brooklyn street, and all members of the NYPD do not get the privilege of protocol. Nor do they have opportunities to speak out on the challenges of an increasingly dangerous job marked by having to make split second decisions in protecting the public in circumstances that have of late included politicians aiding and abetting anti-police protesters who burn and loot towns and cities.

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With more than 20,000 officers from around the country attending the Ramos funeral at the Christ Tabernacle Church, in the Glendale neighborhood of Queens, broadcast outside to thousands of police, some watching from rooftops, and to thousands more average citizens lined up as far as the eye could see, even the most crass of politicians would get the message that the public love and appreciate their Blue LIne, without whom there would only be anarchy. In taking over the mic at the funeral, de Blasio seemed to forget that only a week before the two officers were shot and killed, a Patrolmens Benevolent Association (PBA) leader suggested that police officers sign a petition demanding that the mayor not attend their funerals should they die on the job. In his speech, the mayor seemed to try to extend an olive branch to police, by saying he was there to honor not only Ramos--but the entire NYPD. Directing his first remarks to the Ramos family, he said he wanted to "extend my condolences to another family -- the family of the NYPD -- that is hurting so deeply right now." But it would be safe to assume that the same mayor who admitted in a media interview having spoken to his mixed-race 17-year-old son Dante about how he should act if he is stopped by police, telling him not to reach for a cellphone around officers because it might put him in danger as “a young man of color”, cannot be taken at face value, no matter how seemingly profound his words at a public funeral. It was the second time that the police showed their back to His Worship, the first being at Woodhull Hospital where the bodies of Officers Ramos and Liu were brought after they were shot by cop-hater Ismaaiyl Brinsley. When it comes to detecting insincerity and political hypocrisy, there are few as savvy as police, who routinely deal with liars and frauds as part of the job. In speaking about protesters who were arrested and charged with assaulting police during a demonstration in New York, de Blasio used the word "allegedly," when most knew there was nothing “alleged” about the police assaults. Most people are also aware that Patrolmens Benevolent Association president Patrick Lynch and de Blasio have been locked in a public battle over treatment of officers following the grand jury's decision that sparked the violent protests in Ferguson, Mo. and New York City. De Blasio’s rise from garden variety councilman to New York City’s Public Advocate back in November of 2008, was endorsed by the racially divisive Rev. Al Sharpton, with whom de Blasio has met during the course of the current outbreak of racial unrest that puts the lives of police officers at risk. Knowing that since Ramos and Liu were killed, the NYPD have arrested as many as six people accused of threatening the lives of officers and that yet a seventh man was arrested on gun charges on Thursday after a bystander overheard him making threats against police officers and talking about guns in his home, you would think de Blasio could do something worthwhile for the NYPD: respect them while they are still among us rather than eulogize by taking advantage of protocol at their funerals. God rest Officer Rafael Ramos. God rest Officer Wenjian Liu. God protect the courageous NYPD and the Blue Lines of all towns and cities, who risk their lives in the protection of the public.