A gunman ambushed and killed two New York police officers on Saturday in an apparent act of revenge for the deaths of African-American Michael Brown and Eric Garner at the hands of white police officers in Ferguson and New York that have triggered nationwide anti-police protests.
Hours before the ambush, the gunman, identified as Ismaaiyl Brinsley, 28, announced his intentions online. “I’m Putting Wings On Pigs Today. They Take 1 Of Ours...let’s Take 2 of Theirs,” he wrote on his Instagram page that had a photo of a silver handgun and included the hashtags: #ShootThePolice #RIPErivGarner #RIPMike Brown.
“This May Be My Final Post...I’m Putting Pigs In A Blanket,” wrote the man, believed to be a member of the Black Guerrilla Family gang. Brinsley, it emerged, had travelled from Baltimore after having shot and injured his girlfriend in the stomach earlier in the day.
Police officers Wenjian liu, 32, and Rafael Ramos, 40, were on patrol as part of an anti-terrorism drill in Brooklyn around 3 pm when they were shot point-blank in the head. The two officers were rushed to a hospital, where they were declared dead.
“No warning, no provocation — they were quite simply assassinated, targeted for their uniform,” Police Commissioner William Bratton told reporters later. “Officer liu and Officer Ramos never had the opportunity to draw weapons. They may never actually have even seen their assailant — their murderer,” Bratton said.
After the shooting, Brinsley ran into a nearby subway station with several police officers chasing him. A little later, he was found lying on the floor with a gunshot wound that appeared be self-inflicted, police said. He was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital.
President Barack Obama, who had come down hard on the police after the Brown and Garner episodes, condemned the murder of the two officers and asked people to reject violence. “The officers who serve and protect our communities risk their own safety for ours every single day — and they deserve our respect and gratitude every single day. Tonight, I ask people to reject violence and words that harm, and turn to words that heal — prayer, patient dialogue, and sympathy for the friends and family of the fallen,” he said in a statement from Hawaii.