Excerpted from reporting by Jennifer Smith for Dailymail.com and the Associated Press
NYPD Officer Miosotis Familia, a 48-year-old single mother of three, was shot dead in The Bronx as she made notes in her patrol car in the early hours of July 5. Her killer, paranoid schizophrenic Anthony Bonds, 34, was gunned down by other police officers as he tried to flee.
On Tuesday, thousands packed World Changers Church in The Bronx to lay Familia to rest.
Outside, scores more stood beneath screens and speakers which broadcast the service. When de Blasio appeared on-screen, some turned their backs on him in a show of protest over his decision to go to Hamburg last week in the immediate aftermath of the officer’s death, the New York Post reported.
Taking aim at protesters and the media for what he sees as too much criticism of officers, Police Commissioner James O’Neill said Familia’s death “should remind everybody that the civility of our city rests on a knife’s edge”.
“Where are the demonstrations for the single mom who cared for her elderly mother and three children?” he asked to a thunderous, extended standing ovation from an audience packed with officers.
“There is anger and sorrow, but why is there no outrage?”
De Blasio went on to call Familia a “beautiful New York City story” and said she “embodied the American spirit”.
“She embodied the American dream,” de Blasio said Tuesday, calling Familia a hero who “lived life the right way”.