Hundreds Gather at Wake for Slain Officer
Friday, December 26, 2014
(Cindy Rodriguez/WNYC)
Hundreds of friends and relatives of a police officer who was gunned down along with his partner lined up outside a church in Queens, New York. The mourners, including fellow officers and members of the public, started lining up a full hour before the wake for Officer Rafael Ramos began at Christ Tabernacle Church in the Glendale section of Queens Friday afternoon.
During the memorial service in the evening, Ramos' son, 19-year-old Justin Ramos, described his father as his "rock."
"He was a beacon of wisdom. He was my absolute best friend. Dad, I'll miss you with every .... I'll miss you with every fiber in my being."
Ramos' funeral is scheduled for Saturday. Vice President Joe Biden is expected to attend.
Captain Sergio Centa, the commanding officer of the 84th precinct where Ramos worked, came to Friday night's wake.
"He didn't deserve this," Centa said. "No one deserves to die the way he did. Police officer or civilian. Especially not a police officer. Not the way it happened."
Other police officers came from around the country. Capt. Mike Glasser is from New Orleans and said he drove 23 hours to attend Ramos’s wake and funeral.
“As people across the country are protesting what they believe are problems with the police department, at the same time, this is a showing that we will serve the public. We serve the public interest, but while we do so, we also respect each other,” Glasser said.
“What really affected us and made it important for us to be here again was the way the officers were assassinated,” said Corporal Alan Smith from Prince George’s County in Maryland. “It wasn’t personal against them. It was personal against law enforcement.”
In addition, several city and state officials attended the service including Governor Andrew Cuomo, Cardinal Timothy Dolan and Police Commissioner Bill Bratton. Mayor Bill de Blasio, who has had a troubled relationship with the police union in recent days, did not attend the memorial services when Ramos' family spoke, but later in the evening stopped to pay his respects. He is also expected to attend the funeral services on Saturday morning.
Due to the large number of people attending the service, the church broadcast the Friday night ceremony on a jumbtron outside the building. The funeral service will also be shown on the outdoor screen and it will be stream online at the Church's web site.
Ramos was killed in a brazen daytime ambush on Dec. 20 along with Officer Wenjian Liu as they sat in their patrol car on a Brooklyn street. The shooter later killed himself.
Tracie Hunte, Cindy Rodriguez and Charlie Herman contributed to this report.
UPDATE: An earlier version of this story said the mayor did not attend the memorial service. After the story was published, the mayor's office released his public schedule that included he will attend the viewing. Shortly thereafter, the mayor arrived and paid his respects.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Please leave a comment-- or suggestions, particularly of topics and places you'd like to see covered