Photo: Reuters / Carlo Allegri
The Mayor's Fund to Advance New York City announced on Monday it raised $120,000 for the families of Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu, the two officers shot and killed in Bed-Stuy on December 20, the Observer reports.
The announcement came just days after New York City police officers literally turned their backs on Mayor Bill de Blasio for a second time-- the first time, on the night de Blasio visited the families of Liu and Ramos, as he made his way down a Brooklyn hospital hallway; the second time, at Ramos's funeral on Saturday, where some officers again faced away from de Blasio as he spoke.
The fund, de Blasio's wife, Chirlane McCray, is urging more New Yorkers to support initiatives that "help strengthen police-community relations."
However, police unions have expressed that they resent de Blasio's efforts to reform the department, his tolerance for anti-police brutality protesters and his willingness to speak about the effort he underwent with his biracial son to prepare him for interaction with police.
