Burgess COMMENTARY

Peter Burgess

Giuliani urges de Blasio to apologize for police remarks
AP Photo

Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani on Sunday rebuked police officers who have turned their backs on Mayor Bill de Blasio but urged his Democratic successor to apologize for remarks that infuriated the police amid searing tension among the department and communities of color.

Appearing on CBS’ “Face the Nation,” Giuliani said officers should never turn their backs on the mayor, as they did Saturday at the funeral of slain officer Rafael Ramos, who was shot and killed Dec. 20 by an assailant who targeted police.

“The mayor is not in any way to be treated with people turning their backs,” Giuliani said. “It doesn’t matter if you like the mayor or you don’t like the mayor. You have to respect the mayor.” Giuliani said he expressed that sentiment directly to de Blasio on Saturday, but he went on to urge the mayor to apologize for fanning the flames of racial tensions between police and protesters, furious over the recent deaths of unarmed black men in New York City and Ferguson, Missouri. On Staten Island, de Blasio has faced criticism from police allies for comments interpreted as supporting the protesters.

“Mayor de Blasio, please say you’re sorry to them for having created a false impression of them,” Giuliani said.

The former mayor, a Republican, spent most of his remarks slamming Al Sharpton, who’s been a regular presence in support of protesters and who has the ear of both de Blasio and the White House. Sharpton is a polarizing figure, and his critics contend he’s actually stoked racial tensions in the months since the death of Michael Brown in Ferguson.

“If you would like to have a poster boy for hating the police, it’s Al Sharpton,” Giuliani said, urging President Barack Obama and de Blasio to disassociate from him. He compared Sharpton’s seat at the White House table to an effort to clamp down on the Mafia while turning to a mob boss for advice.

Giuliani’s comments came after remarks by New York City Police Commissioner William Bratton, who also criticized police for disrespecting the mayor at Saturday’s funeral. “I certainly don’t support that action yesterday. I think it was very inappropriate at that event,” he said on the same CBS show.

Bratton acknowledged that morale is low in the department, in part because of the tension with protesters and contract negotiations with the city. And he said he recognized the frustration of officers following the deaths of two of their colleagues.

Bratton noted that the city is investigating 50 reported threats against police and has already made nine arrests, many of them following the shooting deaths of Ramos and his partner, Wenjian Liu.