N.Y. Dem: Don’t blame de Blasio for cop killings

Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) said that anyone blaming the deaths of two New York City police officers over the weekend on Mayor Bill de Blasio is causing “more discord and strife.”

“Those who have cynically and erroneously blamed Saturday’s tragedy on the Mayor’s previous acknowledgements of the challenges in community-police relations, or on peaceful and respectful protestors, do nothing to help move the conversation forward and in fact, foment more discord and strife,” Nadler said in a statement. “This must end.”

{mosads}Two New York Police Department officers, Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu, were shot Saturday night by a man apparently motivated by the recent police killings of black men in Ferguson, Mo. and Staten Island, N.Y. Police union chiefs have accused de Blasio of stoking inflamed rhetoric.

Nadler, whose district includes parts of Brooklyn, said people on both sides of the protests in light of police shootings shouldn’t cast blame at each other.

“We should object to any rhetoric that equates criticism of police tactics or policies with disrespect for the men and women of the NYPD.  And we should object to rhetoric of those who minimize the significant sacrifices these dedicated public servants make every day for our city,” Nadler said.

“No one – on any side – should use this tragedy to advance a political point of view,” Nadler added.