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"The people of Westchester stand in sorrow with every New Yorker and solidarity with the NYPD and all police officers who put their lives on the line every day to keep our communities safe," Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino said in a statement.
New York City Police Commissioner William Bratton said Ismaaiyl Brinsley traveled from Baltimore before opening fire on the two officers who were inside their patrol car late Saturday afternoon. Brinsley, who had made anti-police comments on social media according to police, then took his own life after fleeing to a nearby subway station.
Officers Wenjian Liu and Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu were pronounced dead at a nearby hospital early Saturday evening.
Police union official blasted New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio's response following the indictment in the Eric Garner case.
"There’s blood on many hands," PBA President Patrick Lynch said. "Those that incited violence on the streets under the guise of protest that tried to tear down what NYPD officers did every day. We tried to warn it must not go on, it cannot be tolerated. That blood on the hands starts at City Hall in the office of the mayor.”
Former New York Gov. George Pataki, a Peekskill native and Garrison resident, also was critical of de Blasio as well as U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder.
Pataki tweeted that he is “sickened by these barbaric acts, which sadly are a predictable outcome of divisive anti-cop rhetoric of #ericholder & #mayordeblasio."
Outgoing State Sen. Greg Ball of District 40, which includes parts of Northern Westchester and Putnam, was even more critical of de Blasio.
"As someone who is no longer constrained by political discourse, let me be clear," Ball said in a statement. "In a matter of months, this mayor has taken the city back nearly 50 years.
"Today, our NYPD and other law enforcement and emergency responders have walking targets on their backs and are in grave danger.
"Mince no words. The mayor is directly responsible for their safety or lack thereof. ... Don't wait for him to act New York. Take peaceful and effective action now, and in the coming months, to hold him accountable. This man needs to go."
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