ADL: Killing of N.Y. Police Officers ‘Heinous, Senseless, Shocking’
The Anti-Defamation League called the killing of two New York Police Department officers a “heinous, senseless and shocking assault.”
The officers, Wenjian Liu and Rafael Ramos, were shot in the head through the window of their patrol car in Brooklyn on Saturday afternoon.
Shortly before the killings, the gunman, identified as Ismaaiyl Brinsley, 28, threatened to shoot two “pigs” in retaliation for death of Eric Garner at the hands of police officers in July. “I’m putting Wings on Pigs Today,” Brinsley wrote on Instagram minutes before the attack.
Brinsley had traveled to New York from Baltimore, where he shot and wounded his girlfriend. Brinley killed himself after shooting the officers.
“This was a heinous, senseless and shocking assault on two New York City Police officers whose only crime was in reporting for duty. It is hard to find words to explain why anyone would think it appropriate to kill police officers in cold blood,” Evan Bernstein, ADL’s New York regional director, said in a statement Saturday night.
“Violence, particularly violence borne of racism or hatred, is never the appropriate response in a civil society. The rule of law must prevail. When men and women sworn to serve and protect the public are targeted for senseless acts of barbarism, our democracy suffers and society breaks down into lawlessness,” Bernstein said.
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio on Sunday ordered flags flown at half staff throughout the city.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and the protests on college campuses.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.