Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) said Tuesday that political mudslinging had “no place” after the murder of two New York police officers.
“Pointing fingers has no place at all with civilized people,” he said.
{mosads}It’s the second day on a row that Rangel has urged people to stop criticizing New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and other politicians over the killings.
In the hours after the murders, the head of the city’s largest law enforcement union suggested that de Blasio had “blood” on his hands.
Rangel also said it was important that all New Yorkers communicate their respect for the police, as the force grapples with the loss of two of its employees
“Policemen have to know that we love them,” he said.
“They have to know when we get [ticked] off over some lack of communication with them that we’re going to speak up, and we’re going to protest, but it doesn’t mean that when we lose one of the family that we don’t feel that pain,” he said.
Rangel also said that it would be important to understand how the killer, Ismaaiyl Brinsley, was able to obtain a gun despite a history of criminal convictions.
That echoed his Monday comments that police unions should be using their platform to push for greater gun control that could stop someone like Brinsley from obtaining a firearm.
Brinsley shot himself after killing the two police officers in an ambush-like attack.