Rafael Ramos NYPD: Vice President Biden Speaks, Officers Turn Back on Bill de Blasio at Slain Cop's Funeral
Thousands of people convened at a New York City church in Queens to say goodbye to slain NYPD Officer Rafael Ramos on Saturday morning.
Along with 25,000 NYPD cops, Vice President Joe Biden, Gov. Andrew Cuomo and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio were also in attendance at the funeral service held at Christ Tabernacle Church in Glendale, where Ramos was a faithful member for 14 years.
Officer Ramos, 40, and his partner Officer Wenjian Liu, 32, were fatally shot on Dec. 20 while sitting in their patrol car in Brooklyn. The man charged with killing the officers, Ismaaiyl Brinsley, 28, then took off and shot himself in a nearby subway station.
"I'm sure I speak for the whole nation when I say our hearts ache for you," Vice President Biden told the Ramos family at the service and procession, which started at 10 a.m., reports CNN.
Biden said he hopes the family can take solace in the fact that 25,000 members of the NYPD will "stand with you for the rest of your life."
Biden also addressed Ramos' two sons, saying, "You've shown tremendous courage and character."
Ramos, who was studying to become a chaplain, "didn't just have a Bible in his locker -- he lived it in his heart," Biden said. "He was a cop for all the right reasons."
According to news outlets, such as NPR, hundreds of police officers turned their backs against Mayor de Blasio when he eulogized the late officer.
"Our hearts are aching. We feel it physically, we feel it deeply. New York City has lost a hero," the mayor said.
During the service, NYPD Commissioner William Bratton announced that he was appointing Ramos as an honorary NYPD chaplain of his precinct. He also posthumously promoted Ramos and Liu to Detective First Grade, the highest rank of detective in the department.
"Our cops are people," Bratton said, according to NBC News.
"Ramos was a New Yorker, a New York City police officer and he was, he is a hero," Bratton said.
Gov. Cuomo praised NYPD officers for doing an "extraordinary job" protecting citizens.
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