I want to thank everyone for gathering together. It's a time of pain for our city. It's a time of mourning for two good families, and it's so important that we all stand in solidarity with them. I want to thank everyone here at City Hall, and everyone throughout this city, who in a moment will participate in a moment of silence for Officer Ramos and for Officer Liu.
Chirlane and I visited their families yesterday, and they're going through so much. And they deserve our support, and our solidarity. They need to be first in our thoughts.
Officer Ramos and Officer Liu believed in something – they believed in making this world better, they believed in making this city better. They gave their lives for the belief that we could do better, that we could come together, that we could keep people safe.
Talking to the families, hearing what motivated these good young men to serve is a reminder to us all – it's humbling. It reminds us that we have to keep serving. We have to keep working for something better.
But there's a lot of pain right now. We have to work our way through that pain. We have to keep working to bring police and community closer together. We have to work for that more perfect union. We have to put the divisions of the past behind us. They were left to all of us in this generation, and we have to overcome them.
We need to protect and respect our police just as our police protect and respect our communities. We can strike that balance. We must.
Right now, I want everyone to focus on these families, on their pain. Put yourselves in their shoes. Be there for them, and be there for the extended family of the NYPD, because every police officer is hurting right now, and the family of every police officer is hurting right now. We have to be there for them. We have to keep them in our prayers, and move forward together.
It's never easy to overcome this kind of loss. The families – this will be with them for their entire lives, and we will support them for all their lives ahead. We've made that clear to both families. And the NYPD has a rich strong history of supporting families in their hour of need, and then never letting them go. These children will always know the support that they will no longer have from their fathers who have fallen. We'll make sure of that – all of us together.
So, I just want everyone to think, what can we do to help those families? What can we do to move forward together?
It feels tremendously painful right now. But it's always darkest before the dawn. These families want a city filled with peace and unity. It's our job – all of us – to create that, to support them and work for a better day.
I want to ask everyone assembled here, and everyone who is watching or listening – all throughout New York City, all throughout our nation – to now bow our heads in memory of Officer Ramos and Officer Liu.
[Mayor de Blasio observes moment of silence]
Thank you, everyone. God bless you all, and please embrace those around you as a symbol of our belief that we will move forward together. Thank you.
No comments:
Post a Comment