
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio is facing harsh criticism on Friday for flying to Hamburg to take part in a protest event against the G20 – whose summit is being attended by President Donald Trump – just a day after the gruesome killing of a police officer in the Bronx.

De Blasio, a longtime critic of Trump, headed to Hamburg to protest the G20 Summit that the president and other world leaders attended.

'The Mayor will depart this evening for Berlin & Hamburg, Germany. He will attend several events surrounding the G20. +details to follow,' de Blasio's spokesman Eric Phillips tweeted.

He is due to address 'Hamburg Zeigt Haltung', which translates into 'Hamburg Shows Attitude,' which has been dubbed a 'tolerant, diverse, and nonviolent' protest event.

On its Facebook page, 'Hamburg Zeigt Haltung' writes: 'We are a broad alliance of culture, society, churches, sports and politics and want to show an attitude on the 8th of the G20 summit in Hamburg. Attitude for respect, diversity, freedom of expression, tolerance and freedom of the press.'

Over the last 48 hours, Hamburg has been the site of fierce clashes between anti-capitalist protesters and police.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio (seen second from right alongside Hamburg Mayor Olaf Scholz on Friday) is facing harsh criticism on Friday for flying to Hamburg to take part in a protest event against the G20 – whose summit is being attended by President Donald Trump – just hours after a funeral for a murdered police officer

De Blasio, a longtime critic of Trump, headed to Hamburg to protest the G20 Summit that the president and other world leaders attended. He is due to address 'Hamburg Zeigt Haltung', which translates into 'Hamburg Shows Attitude,' which has been dubbed a 'tolerant, diverse, and nonviolent' protest event

The mayor's critics said de Blasio flying to Hamburg to take part in a protest event while the president is there attending a summit made him appear sympathetic to the looters and rioters that have clashed with police over the past two days. Protesters are seen above on a street in Hamburg on Friday

Heavily armed police commandos moved in after activists had spent much of the day attempting to wrest control of the streets from more than 15,000 police, setting fires, looting and building barricades

The mayor's critics said de Blasio flying to Hamburg to take part in a protest event while the president is there attending a summit made him appear sympathetic to the looters.

On social media, conservatives took turns blasting de Blasio. A Twitter handle @TEN_GOP tweeted: 'Anti-capitalist protesters' looting a supermarket in Hamburg during #G20. Is De Blasio one of them?'

Greg Gutfeld of Fox News called the mayor 'the worst' on 'The Five' on Thursday, referring to him as a 'horrible little man-child.'

De Blasio left New York the day after a police officer was assassinated in The Bronx, according to the New York Daily News.

The officer, Miosotis Familia, was shot in the head from close range early Wednesday morning by an alleged killer who had passed through the city's mental health system and was known to have a violent, criminal history.

De Blasio's opponent in the upcoming mayoral race, Nicole Malliotakis, jabbed de Blasio over his trip to Germany with a humorous photoshopped image.

The Republican assemblywoman from Staten Island posted a doctored photo to her Twitter on Thursday, showing de Blasio wearing traditional German lederhosen and posing with beer and bratwurst.

'While #NYC's subways crumble, sex crimes increase double digits, litter on streets pile up & the number of street homeless soars… #G20,' presumptive Republican mayoral nominee wrote.

Nicole Malliotakis posted a doctored photo to her Twitter on Thursday, showing de Blasio wearing traditional German lederhosen and posing with beer and bratwurst

Alexander Bonds, 34, (left), shot and killed NYPD officer Miosotis Familia, 48, (right), early Wednesday morning. He was later shot dead by other officers

Riot police use water cannon in Hamburg on Friday. Protesters torched cars and lorries, smashed windows in banks, looted retail stores and hurled paving slabs and other objects before police managed to restore order

Some 197 officers were injured after two days of clashes in the port city. Police made 19 arrests and detained dozens more

Heavily armed police forces arrive when riots errupt on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in Hamburg. With meetings between leaders of the club of 20 largest global economies finished for the day, police stormed the last holdouts, who had gathered in the Schanzenviertel district, an area known for its left-wing activism and culture of squatting

Malliotakis said that she hoped her tweet would bring attention to pressing issues in New York City. 'The photo is funny but the issue is serious. Our mayor is neglecting his basic responsibility of managing the city,' the assemblywoman told The New York Post.

'He has no business being in Germany protesting. He should be here doing the job he was elected to do.'

'He'd rather protest and eat bratwurst with his lefty friends in Europe,' another de Blasio foe, mayoral candidate Bo Dietl, said.

'The real victims of this political posturing are the people of New York, our invaluable Dominican community and other minority communities that feel the impact of this mayor's ineptitude each day.'

But the mayor says that he would not have flown to Germany if the trip conflicted with ceremonies to honor the slain officer.

The New York Police Department announced that a wake for Familia will take place Monday.

Her funeral is scheduled for Tuesday morning, according to WPIX-TV.

De Blasio's office said the mayor agreed to fly to Germany because he would return to New York by Sunday – well before the wake and the funeral are scheduled to take place, according to the New York Daily News.

'I feel so deeply for Officer Familia's family. I was in the room when Commissioner O'Neill and I had to tell her 20-year-old daughter what had happened,' de Blasio said on Friday.

The mayor is also planning to see his son, Dante, who is spending the summer in Berlin, according to the Daily News.

De Blasio is also being criticized for the hefty bill that New York City taxpayers will have to foot for the security detail that is accompanying him to Germany.

According to the Daily News, de Blasio's entourage includes three staffers and an NYPD security detail.

Mayor de Blasio is seen left with NYPD Commissioner James O'Neill on Wednesday leaving the 46th Precinct in the Bronx, where Familia worked. The mayor's office said that he would not have flown to Germany if the trip conflicted with memorial services for Familia that are scheduled to begin on Monday. De Blasio returns to New York on Sunday

The mayor's office insists that the cost of the trip will be picked up by organizers of the event in which de Blasio is scheduled to speak.

New York taxpayers, however, will subsidize the costs of de Blasio's security detail.

Those figures are not made available to the public due to what are described as 'security concerns.'

'We don't discuss the details of protecting dignitaries, including the mayor,' an NYPD spokesman said.

The mayor, meanwhile, defended his decision to fly to Germany, saying that the city is being run efficiently even in his absence.

'All the issues that need to be attended to, I'm attending to every day, regardless of where I am,' de Blasio told WNYC.

Police gained the upper hand in Hamburg early on Saturday morning.

Heavily armed police commandos moved in after activists had spent much of the day attempting to wrest control of the streets from more than 15,000 police, setting fires, looting and building barricades.

Demonstrators take a selfie photo with a burning crush barrier in the background during a demonstration against the G20 Summit in Hamburg on Friday

Looters plunder and destroy a Rewe supermarket in the Schanzenviertel district on Friday