NYPD's Wenjian Liu, Killed In Dec. Shooting, Is
Laid To Rest
Updated at 12:50 noon ET
Thousands of police officers from across the country paid their respects to NYPD detective Wenjian Liu, one of two patrolmen who were gunned down last month in an unprovoked attack in a Brooklyn neighborhood.
Liu's widow, Pei Xia Chen, said "he is my hero." The couple had been married only a few weeks when the officer was killed on Dec. 20.
New York Police Department Chaplain Robert Romano quoted a Buddhist proverb: "When you are born, you cry, and the world rejoices. When you die, you rejoice, and the world cries."
But, as happened last week during the funeral for Liu's partner, Rafael Ramos, some officers used the service to stage a silent protest of New York Mayor Bill de Blasio by turning their backs on him as he spoke.
Ramos' funeral, held last week, also drew thousands.The two were killed on Dec. 20 by Ismaaiyl Brinsley, who approached their patrol car in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn, firing several shots into their vehicle. The assailant later killed himself. Social media posts by Brinsley, who is black, suggest that the shooting was a revenge attack for the deaths of two or more black men at the hands of police.
The Associated Press says: "Buddhist monks will lead a Chinese ceremony for Officer Wenjian Liu, followed by a traditional police ceremony with eulogies led by a chaplain. Liu, 32, had served as a policeman for seven years and was married just two months when he was killed."
The mayor, FBI Director James Comey and Police Commissioner William Bratton were among those who spoke at the funeral.
"All of our city is heartbroken today," De Blasio said. "We've seen it these last few weeks. We've seen the pain."
He said Liu "walked a path of courage, a path of sacrifice, a path of kindness."
Many had been watching for the reaction from rank-and-file officers attending the ceremony after many turned their backs on the mayor at last week's funeral for Ramos.
As the mayor spoke last week, officers watching on a giant screen outside the church turned their backs in a gesture of disrespect for the mayor. Some officers had done the same thing when De Blasio arrived at the hospital where the slain officers had been brought on the day of the shooting.
WNYC's Stephen Nessen reports that "several dozen" officers turned their backs to the mayor at today's ceremony. The New York Times referred to
"handfuls."
As we reported at the time, the incident has "laid bare a rift between the mayor and the NYPD. Shortly after [the Dec. 20] attack, the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association's president, Pat Lynch, accused the mayor of having "blood on his hands" for what is perceived as a lack of support for the department amid protests against police violence."
As the AP notes: "Many people, including Cardinal Timothy Dolan, have since pressed all parties to tone down the rhetoric. And this weekend, Police Commissioner William Bratton sent a memo to all commands urging respect, declaring 'a hero's funeral is about grieving, not grievance.' "
Structure of the Lead：
WHO- Wenjian Liu
WHEN- no given
WHAT- pay their respects
WHY-one of two patrolmen who were gunned down last month in an unprovoked attack in a Brooklyn neighborhood
WHERE-
HOW-no given
Keywords：
1. unprovoked 無端
2. funeral 葬禮
3. slain 被殺
4. rhetoric 修辭
5. grievance 不平
The relationship between the black and the white, the citizen and the police had caused a lot of problems in some country. Especially in America, the black and the white's unfair social status lead to the oppose between them. In the recent incident, it is sad to hear that the police was killed because of the black people's revenge attack. I think that all our human beings should learn to respect different races and put ourselves in others' shoes.
回覆刪除According to this news, I find what I thought before was fault. I thought America, such an advanced country, was a sexual equal country. But after I read the mews, I was wrong. The tension situation between the black and the white surprised me. I think all " colors" should be respected. We could not surrender to the racism. On the aspect of the attack to the police, I cannot agree this action. There is nothing can be solved by revenge!
回覆刪除The accident happened because the black people wanted to revenge. The murderer was a black people. I think his revenge was too fiercely. However, the racial discrimination on the black people should be eliminated, or there might be more accidents happen again. Hope the white and the black people could live peacefully.
回覆刪除