EVEN NYPD ACADEMY GRADUATES ARE BOOING DE BLASIO

As de Blasio addressed the 884 police academy graduates and said they would be confronting problems they did not create, a heckler shouted “You created them!” to loud cheers

More than 25,000 cops attended the funeral of assassinated NYPD officer Rafael Ramos, with many coming from all over the country. Those who were unable to get inside the church filled the street and watched the funeral proceedings on a giant TV screen. Inside the church, Mayor de Blasio received polite applause both before he spoke and when he finished. However, outside the church it was a far different matter. When de Blasio appeared on the giant screen, thousands of officers turned their backs to express their disgust with the mayor, including those officers from other jurisdictions.

The media reported that “hundreds” of officers turned their backs. Those reports were flat-out lies. I may be visually handicapped, but I can still see pictures clearly. The pictures I saw showed a sea of blue – thousands of cops with their backs turned to the TV screen.

It gets even better. An elaborate graduation ceremony was held Monday morning at Madison Square Garden for 884 police recruits. When de Blasio came up to the podium he was met with some loud boos and some shouts of “traitor.” And when he told the new police officers that “You will confront all manner of problems … problems that you didn’t create,” a heckler shouted , “You created them!” The heckler was met with laughter and cheers.

I suspect that Police Commissioner Bill Bratton, who has said it was “very inappropriate” for officers to turn their backs on the mayor, shit in his pants when he heard that heckler. Bratton has been trying to downplay the rift between the cops and de Blasio and has said the officers who turned their backs on the mayor do not represent the ideals of the NYPD. You can bet he will try hard to have that heckler identified so that his career as a NY cop will be over before it gets started.

While it may not be appropriate to turn your back on the mayor or to heckle him at a police academy graduation ceremony, I can understand why cops all over the country are pissed off at de Blasio for warning his black teenage son about the dangers he will face from white police officers.