In the wake of the Dec. 20 shooting deaths of two of New York's Finest, Miami's police union is calling for an end to violence against law enforcement officers.
A crowd of police officers and their families and friends gathered outside Bayside Marketplace yesterday to remember Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu. The two New York City officers were killed by a gunman who investigators say was angered by recent police-involved deaths of unarmed black men in Ferguson, Missouri and Staten Island.
Miami Fraternal Order of Police President Javier Ortiz blames the officers’ deaths on widespread “anti-law enforcement sentiment.”
“While many politicians have focused on the lack of trust between the police and minorities, what really needs to be addressed are the issues of poverty, unemployment and education that creates a set of circumstances that breeds crime,” Ortiz told the cheering crowd.
The rally ended with the throng of demonstrators lining a portion of Biscayne Boulevard with 778 illuminated paper bags with glowing blue lights – one for every Florida police officer killed in the line of duty.
