The mother and widow of Eric Garner, who died in July following a chokehold by police, held a press conference Sunday to denounce the killing of two NYPD officers the day before and call for peaceful protests, reports NBC News.

NYPD officers Wenjian Liu and Rafael Ramos were shot Saturday in Brooklyn while sitting in their squad car by 28-year-old gunman Ismaaiyl Brinsley. Brinsley then fatally shot himself.

Brinsley suggested on social media that the killings were revenge for the deaths of Garner and Michael Brown of Ferguson, Missouri. He wrote on an Instagram account prior to the shootings: "I'm putting wings on pigs today. They take 1 of ours, let's take 2 of theirs. #Shootthepolice, #RIPErivGardner (sic) #RIPMikeBrown."

"Anyone who's standing with us, we want you to not use Eric Garner's name for violence because we are not about that," Garner's mother, Gwen Carr, told reporters at the press conference with civil rights leader Rev. Al Sharpton. "I'm standing here in sorrow about losing those two police officers."

Garner's widow, Esaw, said that her husband was not a violent man. The family does not want violence connected to his name.

"I just want to express my condolences and heartfelt sadness for these two officers and their families," she said. "I know what they are going through to lose a loved one right before the holidays. It's so sad."

Sharpton, the president of National Action Network, said he has received threatening phone calls since the killing of Liu and Ramos.

He said blaming Mayor Bill de Blasio or protesters only leads to further division. He asked the blame be directed at individuals with an "ugly spirit" rather than "those of us who are committed to non-violence."

In July, Garner was questioned by police officers on suspicion of selling single cigarettes. When officers moved to arrest Garner, he resisted and an NYPD officer placed him in a grappling hold. Garner repeatedly told officers, "I can't breathe," while lying face down on the sidewalk. He later died.

A grand jury declined to indict the officer in Garner's death, sparking protests and this latest act of violence.

President Barack Obama called New York City Police Commissioner Bill Bratton and "reiterated his call for the American people to reject violence and words that harm, and turn to words that heal -- prayer, patient dialogue and sympathy for the friends and family of the fallen," according to White House spokesman Eric Schultz.