Justin and Jaden Ramos watched as around 500 police motorcycles revved past Christ Tabernacle Church in Queens. The two young men sat in a limousine. Other family members were seated behind them, including their mother, who was crying. Their father’s body was in the hearse in front.

Officer Rafael Ramos was shot dead a week before, while sitting in his patrol car with his partner, Wenjian Liu, in Brooklyn’s Bedford Stuyvesant neighbourhood. They did not have their weapons drawn and may have never seen their assailant.

According to the New York Police Department, it was a targeted killing. Ismaaiyl Brinsley, a 28-year-old with a troubled history who shot his ex-girlfriend in Baltimore before travelling to New York, made anti-police statements on social media before killing the officers. Brinsley fatally shot himself in a nearby subway station.

Justin Ramos entered the church wearing his father’s police jacket. The badge on his shoulder was similar to those worn by the thousands of police officers who attended the funeral. Some wore badges from departments as far away as New Orleans and Los Angeles.

The majority of the uniformed crowd watched the service outside the church, via a large screen. When New York’s mayor, Bill de Blasio, addressed the congregation, some officers turned their backs.

In the wake of the shooting of Ramos and Liu – whose funeral has not yet been held – De Blasio’s relationship with the NYPD has become fraught. At the hospital to which the officers’ bodies were taken Patrick Lynch, the head of the city’s main police union, the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association, said there was blood “on the steps of city hall, in the office of the mayor”.

A day before the funeral, a plane flew above New York City with a sign trailing it that read: “de Blasio, our backs have turned to you”.

A police officer walks past a painting of NYPD officer Rafael Ramos. Photograph: Carlo Allegri/Reuters

The killing came after weeks of protests throughout the city over the way the NYPD treats blacks and Latinos compared with white people. These tensions came to a head on 3 December, when a grand jury voted not to indict the police officer Daniel Pantaleo, who put Eric Garner in the illegal chokehold that led to his death. De Blasio’s perceived support for the protesters and refusal to endorse the grand jury decision has angered many officers.

In his remarks on Saturday, de Blasio called the NYPD “the finest police force in the country” and offered his condolences to the Ramos family on behalf of the 8.4 million residents of New York City. “All of this city is grieving and grieving for so many reasons,” he said, “but the most personal is we’ve lost such a good man and a family is in such pain.”

On leaving the church, de Blasio and a uniformed Lynch exchanged a nod. Lynch was asked by reporters about the officers who turned their backs. He said police felt a sense of “betrayal”.

The NYPD commissioner, Bill Bratton, acknowledged tensions between his force and the public by talking about the first police funeral he attended, 44 years ago. The victim, Boston patrolman Walter Schroeder, was ambushed by extreme anti-war activists and shot in the back, while responding to a bank hold-up.

Speaking of the political atmosphere of the 1970s, Bratton said: “Divisive politics polarised the city and country – maybe that sounds familiar.”

“It sowed doubt and fear among officers and citizens alike,” Bratton said of Schroeder’s death. “We mourned, we vowed never to forget, and we moved forward.”



He continued by celebrating Ramos, who according to family members lost his own father when he was an infant and took on a father-figure role at an early age.

Bratton also remembered a man who had joined the force at an older age than usual, and handled his change of employment with a maturity and dedication that younger officers looked up to. “He represented the blue thread that holds our city together when disorder might pull it apart,” Bratton said.

Ramos had been studying to be a chaplain. Bratton awarded him the posthumous title for the department. He also announced at the funeral that Ramos and Liu had been promoted to detective, first grade.

The officers were members of New York’s 84th precinct, whose officers formed a block opposite the funeral as it came to an end. This sea of blue met Ramos’ family and friends as they left the church.

Also outside was Vice-President Joe Biden, who spoke first at the funeral, applauding the two officers for their commitment and passion. He also acknowledged the dedication of Ramos’ family and the families of all police officers.

“Police families are a different breed,” Biden said. “Thank God for them.”

Maritza Ramos stands with her sons Justin and Jaden holding a folded American flag, following the funeral for her husband. Photograph: UPI /Landov / Barcroft Media

Helicopters whirred overhead through the service, which was broadcast on speakers to the crowds outside. When the 84th-precinct officers were called to attention and made a white-gloved salute, the area fell almost completely silent.

That stillness came to an end as hundreds of motorcycle police drove by the church. Officers from New Jersey, Philadelphia and New Orleans had driven their motorcycles to Queens to be a part of the procession, which also included a performance by the NYPD Emerald Society band.

Windows of nearby apartment buildings filled with faces; from homes and storefronts, residents watched the flood of officers pass by. The Ramos family looked out from the parked limo, which sat nearly three miles down the avenue their father and his partner were facing when they were killed.

New York governor Andrew Cuomo praised the “profound writings” of Jaden Ramos. Cuomo quoted a Facebook post written by the 13-year-old after his father’s death. It said: “Police officers are the people you call when you need help and they always show up.”

“Truer words were never spoken,” Cuomo said.