Thousands of police officers gathered to mourn one of their own Sunday, filling a funeral home as Officer Wenjian Liu was remembered, two weeks after his slaying exposed a growing rift between police and Mayor Bill de Blasio.
The crowd was not as thick as that which showed up for the funeral of Liu's partner, Rafael Ramos, but bystanders were just as emotional.
"It shouldn't have happened," Emily Chan said as she watched a long line of uniformed officers walk up the street from a subway station toward the funeral home. Chan shook her head sadly. "They were too young to die."
Liu's wake was held Saturday at the same funeral home where Sunday's service was being held. Calvin Hunt was one of those in the crowd outside the wake.
Last weekend, Hunt, who had taken part in marches demanding police reforms, stood outside the church where Ramos' service was held.
Hunt put aside politics and joined in the grieving for Liu, whose funeral was taking place amid the simmering feud between New York police and De Blasio.
Police union chiefs say De Blasio had not given police the support they needed in the face of weeks of civilian protests alleging police brutality. They said the mayor's tolerance of protesters created a hostile climate that led to slaying of Liu and Ramos on Dec. 20.
The two officers were gunned down while sitting in their squad car in Brooklyn. Ramos' wake and funeral were held Dec. 26 and Dec. 27.
Hunt was there for Ramos, a 40-year-old father of two who had joined the police force in 2011. He said it was just as important to stand vigil for Liu, a 32-year-old newlywed and seven-year police veteran.
"This here is just like one of the saddest days in New York," said Hunt, who brought his 10-year-old daughter, Olivia, and his 7-year-old son, Cameron, with him to the services for both officers. Each of the Hunts held up pictures of the slain officers.
Hunt described himself as an activist who had taken part in marches demanding police reforms, which erupted after the July death of an unarmed black man, Eric Garner, during a scuffle with police in Staten Island. A grand jury declined to indict the officer who had put Garner in a chokehold.
"They talk about black lives mattering," Hunt, who is black, said of protesters. "Well, blue lives matter. All lives matter. Police lives matter."
Noreen Mittleman said she had friends who are police officers and that she kept a candle burning in her window in memory of Liu, Ramos and other slain officers.
"I'm coming to pay my respects to all of my brothers and sisters in the police force," said Mittleman. "They put their lives at stake for us every day."
Police Commissioner William J. Bratton urged officers not to repeat the silent protest staged at Ramos' funeral, when many officers turned their backs as De Blasio spoke. De Blasio arrived at the funeral for Liu and entered without any of the police turning their backs or displaying any signs of protest.
"A hero's funeral is about grieving, not grievance," Bratton said in a memo read to officers before the services for Liu.
There were no signs of protests during Liu's wake, either. In fact, several officers saluted as De Blasio entered the funeral home alongside Bratton. None turned away.
Neither De Blasio nor Bratton spoke to reporters before either the wake or funeral. Among the political leaders attending the wake was Gov. Andrew Cuomo, whose father, former Gov. Mario Cuomo, died on New Year's Day at the age of 82.
Cuomo said he was mourning his father, but that the elder Cuomo, whose wake is scheduled Monday, would have wanted him to pay tribute to the fallen police officer. "Today is about the Liu family, and he would have wanted me here," Cuomo said of his father.
Blue ribbons honoring police and handmade banners praising the NYPD dotted the wide, busy avenue leading to the funeral home. Inside, relatives of Liu, including his wife of two months and many who traveled from China, sat near the officer's casket.
Liu came to the United States in 1994 from China with his parents, and he graduated from the Police Academy in 2007. According to his parents, their only child had wanted to be a police officer since he was a teenager, driven in part by the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
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Copyright © 2015, Los Angeles Times8:10 a.m.: This story has been updated throughout as the funeral of Wenjian Liu gets underway in New York.
This article was originally published at 6: 30 a.m.
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