1/4/2015

Family, officers attend funeral of murdered NYPD Officer Wenjian Liu | Fox News

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Family,officersattendfuneralofmurderedNYPDOfficer
WenjianLiu
PublishedJanuary04,2015 |FoxNews.com

Undergrayskiesandalightrain,NewYorkCityofferedafinalsalutetoWenjianLiu,theNYPDofficerwhowasmurderedwith
fellowOfficerRafaelRamosastheysatintheirsquadcaronaBrooklynstreet.
Liu,32,wasontheforcesevenyearswhenhewasmurderedonDecember20,justtwomonthsafterhewasmarried.
Liuswife,parentsandotherfamilymemberswerejoinedbythousandsofNYPDofficersatAievoliFuneralHomeinDykerHeights
forthefuneralservice.
Msgr.RobertJ.Romano,anNYPDchaplain,openedtheservicewithaBuddhistsaying:"Whenyouareborn,youcry,andthe
worldrejoices.Whenyoudie,yourejoice,andtheworldcries."
"Ourheartsarebroken,oureyesarefilledwithtears,"themonsignorsaid,asheofferedprayersforDetectiveLiu,aswellasLius
familyandhisfellowofficersatthe84thPrecinctinBrooklyn.
"Theyareourheroesandtheywillbemissed,"RomanosaidofLiuandRamos.
Liusfather,whobrokedownduringanemotionalspeech,describedthefuneralasthe"saddestdayofhislife."
"Wenjian,youarethebestson,youarethebesthusband,"WeiTangLiusaid."Also,youarealsoourpoliceofficerandourbest
friend."
Liu'slongtimeaspirationtobecomeapoliceofficerdeepenedaftertheSept.11terrorattacks,hisfatheradded.
Liuswidow,PeiXiaChen,saidWenjiantookprideinthefactthathewasaNewYorkCitypoliceofficer.
"Eventhoughheleftusearly,Ibelievethatheisstillwithus,"shesaid."Hisspiritwillcontinuetolookafterus."
OneofLiuscousinssaidoneofhisearliestmemoriesofWenjianknowntomanyas"Joe"waswhenhewasshownasticker
bookshortlyafterWenjianarrivedinAmericaattheageof12.
ThecousinsaidhelikedaStatueofLibertystickerthatLiuhad,butherefusedtogiveittohim.Afterthecousinstartedcrying,Liu
handedoverthesticker.
"TostopmefromcryinghegavemethefirstsouvenirheboughtwhenhecametoAmerica,"thecousinsaid.
NewYorkCityMayorBilldeBlasiosaidthat"allofthiscitywantstoliftuptheLiufamilyandtheRamosfamilyandalways
remembertheirsacrifice.
"Liuwalkedapathofcourage,apathofsacrifice,apathofkindness.Itwaswhohewasandhewastakenfromusmuchtoosoon,"
deBlasioadded.
Outsidethefuneralhome,hundredsofcitypoliceofficersturnedtheirbacksondeBlasioashespoke,despitecallsfrompolice
commissionerWilliamBrattonnottodoso.Policeunionofficialshaveaccusedthemayoroffosteringaclimateofmistrustthat
contributedtothekillingsofOfficerLiuandhispartner.

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1/4/2015

Family, officers attend funeral of murdered NYPD Officer Wenjian Liu | Fox News

"Themayorhasnorespectforus.Whyshouldwehaverespectforhim?"saidretiredNewYorkPoliceDepartmentDetective
CamilleSanfilippo,whowasamongthosewhoturnedtheirbacksSunday.RetiredNYPDSgt.LaurieCarsoncalledtheaction"our
onlywaytoshowourdispleasurewiththemayor."
OfficersspunbackaroundwhenBrattontookthepodiumtospeak.Later,deBlasiostoodstoicallyoutsidethefuneralhome,tono
visiblereactionfromofficers,observinganhonorguardandotherrituals.
ThemayordescribedLiuasafamilymanwhowouldenjoyhistimeofffishing,sharinghishaulswithaunts,unclesandhisfamily.
Inhishighschoolyears,Liuwouldstopplayingbasketballwithhisfriendsearlytobuygroceriesandgohometocookhisparents
dinner.
Liuknewhisfamilywouldworryabouthimjoiningthecityspolicedepartment,butreassuredthemeverydayabouthissafety.
"Attheendofeveryworkday,hecalledhisfathertotellhimandtotellthefamilyhewassafeandwasonhiswayhome,"deBlasio
said.
ThemayorsaidotherpoliceofficerslearnedfromLiubyhisactions,suchasonetimehewascalledtohelpanelderlymanwho
hadfallendowninhishome.
AfterLiuliftedupthemanaVietnamarmyveteranintoachair,hesensedhistimeatthemanshomewasntover,astheman
wantedtotalkabouthisyoungerdays.
SoLiupouredtheveteranaglassofsodaandlistenedtohisstoriesbeforetuckinghimintobed.
Forsevenyears,Liu"soughtoutthesuffering,thedisturbed,theinjuredandtriedtobringthemcomfort,"Brattonsaid.
"Weallbelieveinthepossibilityofbeingpartofsomethinglargerthanourselves,"Brattonadded."Liuwitnesseditandsawthe
possibilityofservice,tobepartofsomethingthatwouldhelpothers."
Yesterday,mournerslinedupforblocksonacold,rainydayforLiu'swake.
"Thisisareallytragicstory,"Gov.AndrewCuomotoldreportersfollowingthewake,heldjusttwodaysafterthedeathofhisown
father,formerGov.MarioCuomo.
"Thisisreallypointless.Ithadnothingtodowiththem,"hesaidofLiuandRamos."Theydidnothingwrong....Itwaspureand
randomhatred."
Theshooter,IsmaaiylBrinsley,killedhimselfshortlyafterthebrazendaytimeambushonaBrooklynstreet.
InvestigatorssayBrinsleywasanemotionallydisturbedlonerwhohadmadereferencesonlinetothekillingsthissummerof
unarmedblackmenatthehandsofwhitepoliceofficers,vowingtoput"wingsonpigs."
ThedeathsstrainedanalreadytenserelationshipbetweencitypoliceunionsanddeBlasio,whounionleadershavesaid
contributedtoanenvironmentthatallowedthekillingsbysupportingprotestsfollowingthedeathsofEricGarneronStatenIsland
andMichaelBrowninFerguson,Missouri.
Manypeople,includingCardinalTimothyDolan,havesincepressedallpartiestotonedowntherhetoric.Andthisweekend,Police
CommissionerWilliamBrattonsentamemotoallcommandsurgingrespect,declaring"ahero'sfuneralisaboutgrieving,not
grievance."
AfterSunday'sshowofdisdain,Patrolmen'sBenevolentAssociationPresidentPatrickLynchsaidofficers"havearighttohaveour
opinionheard,likeeveryoneelsethatprotestsoutinthecity"andnotedthatofficersturnedtheirbacksoutsidetheservice.The
mayorgotarespectfulreceptionamongpoliceofficialsinside.
TheNYPDdeclinedtocomment.

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1/4/2015

Family, officers attend funeral of murdered NYPD Officer Wenjian Liu | Fox News

OnSaturday,officersstandingoutsidetheBrooklynfuneralhomewhereLiuwasdisplayed,dressedinfulluniforminanopen
casket,salutedasthemayorandcommissionerentered.
Liu'sfuneralarrangementsweredelayedsorelativesfromChinacouldtraveltoNewYork.HeistobeburiedatCypressHills
Cemetery.
OnSaturday,asmallvigilwasestablishedinChinatownandcommunitymembersgathered,burningpiecesofpaperinhonorofLiu
inkeepingwithChinesetradition.
TheAssociatedPresscontributedtothisreport.
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Thismaterialmaynotbepublished,broadcast,rewritten,orredistributed.2014FOXNewsNetwork,LLC.Allrightsreserved.Allmarketdatadelayed20minutes.

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