A pair of Brooklyn officers who were slain in the line of duty were remembered for their service at a memorial mass on Monday, where family members, locals and politicians alike paid their respects to the fallen heroes seven years after their lives were taken.
Detectives Wenjian Liu and Rafael Ramos were killed on the afternoon of Dec. 20, 2014, when they were shot four times while sitting in their patrol car at the intersection of Myrtle and Tompkins avenues in Bedford-Stuyvesant by Ismaaiyl Brinsley.
That tragic day, Brinsley seemed to be on a killing spree, returning to Brooklyn from Baltimore where he murdered his ex-girlfriend and then killed the two 84th Precinct officers. He later died by suicide on the G train platform near Myrtle and Willoughby avenues, after responding officers chased him into the station.
The gruesome slaying occurred not long after a lack of charges were brought onto officers who were involved in the deaths of Eric Garner, and Michael Brown. Brinsley reportedly made statements that he was upset about the two cases on social media, according to the New York Times.
The officers’ funerals were attended by hundreds of people and prominent politicians, such as President Joe Biden, who attended Ramos’ Dec. 27, 2014 funeral when he was vice president.
Monday’s memorial mass at Our Lady of Guadalupe in Bensonhurst saw the attendance of Brooklyn Borough President and Mayor-elect Eric Adams, and Police Benevolent Association President Pat Lynch, among others.
“I came here to remember their sacrifice on that faithful day,” Adams, a former NYPD officer, said. “It was only right that I paid my respect to the family.”
“What happened to Detectives Ramos and Lui can happen to any of our patrol car officers,” Lynch said at the memorial. “We will remember their sacrifices. The NYPD will always remember them. Our cops will always protect these communities to the best of our abilities.”
