In New York, Killings of Police Officers Generate Backlash Against Protesters

On Sunday, a somber-faced New York Mayor Bill de Blasio , who has come under withering criticism from the city’s police union, which contends he has undermined officers, attended Mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Manhattan, flanked in a pew by his wife and Police Commissioner William Bratton.

 

“We are in solidarity with you,” New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan told the public officials.

Protest leaders have condemned the killing of the two officers. The protest movement faced its first test Sunday evening, when about 100 demonstrators marched almost silently in Central Park and parts of Harlem to the First Corinthian Baptist Church.

“We realize the sensitivity of this time,” said Tamika Mallory, a board member of Justice League NYC, one of the main organizations involved in the New York City demonstrations.

Elsewhere, organizers defended their demonstrations.

“Who’s targeting the police? Not the peaceful protesters,” said Johnetta Elzie, an activist who has established a leading presence in Ferguson and the St. Louis area. “I have had people tell me that I have blood on my hands, and I didn’t know the shooter or the victims.”