By Juan Soto
Queens Borough President Melinda Katz, in response to the killings of two police officers Saturday afternoon in Brooklyn, said the public must remember challenges confronting cops in their efforts to keep the city safe.
“Our officers deserve respect for their devotion and the dangers they face day-in and day-out in the mission to protect our city,” Katz said. “My thoughts and prayers are with the families of two of NYPD’s Finest,” she added, referring to the killings of Officers Rafael Ramos, 40, and Wenjian Liu, 32, as they sat in a patrol car in a busy Brooklyn intersection Saturday.
Two vigils are planned for Monday night in Long island City and Ridgewood to mourn the fallen cops. The one in Long island City was scheduled for just outside the 108th Police Precinct at 5-47 50th Ave. at 6:30 p.m. In Ridgewood, the prayer service will start at 7 p.m. in front of the 104th police station house at 64-02 Catalpa Ave.
And Tuesday, more vigils are planned. One will take place in Forest Hills, outside the 112th Police Precinct.
Richard Brown, the Queens district attorney, said, “As we mourn the loss of officers Liu and Ramos, we must find a way to channel our emotions into achieving positive change for our city.”
In St. Albans, the NAACP Jamaica branch planned a memorial service for the officers killed at the Robert Ross Johnson Family Life Center for Tuesday at 6:30 p.m., calling for “a time for peace, unity and love.”
Ramos and Liu were gunned down by Ismaaiyl Brinsley near the Tompkins Houses in Bedford-Stuyvesant, police said.
Elected officials, faith and community leaders were expected to gather at the vigils to remember the officers.
U.S. Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-Jamaica) offered condolences to the Liu and the Ramos families.
He added, “This heinous shooting is an instance of senseless violence that sought to destroy the very fabric of our society and I condemn it in the strongest possible terms.”
