Finger-pointing in NYC

Tensions remained high in New York City Monday as lawmakers and other political figures battle over who deserves the blame for the weekend killings of two policemen shot to death indiscriminately as they sat in their patrol car.

Much of the ire from police has been directed at New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, who some have accused of fostering anger and resentment toward officers. De Blasio visited the homes of officers Rafael Ramos and Wenjin Liu on Monday, as friends and family gathered to mourn.

Police officer unions have bashed de Blasio for throwing officers “under the bus” and not strongly condemning violent protests in the aftermath of that grand jury decision. Patrick Lynch, the president of the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association in New York went so far as to accuse the mayor of having “blood” on his hands for fostering a chasm between minority communities and officers that helped influence the tragedy.

De Blasio briefly responded to Lynch’s comments during a press conference Monday.

“We need to honor the families by not getting into a back and forth,” the mayor said.

“There’ll be a time for me to talk about my own personal views. I will simply say I think what he said was a mistake, and it was wrong.”

In a radio interview Monday on WNYC, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said that de Blasio is doing “the best that he can.” But he chose not to repudiate the “blood” on his hands comments.

“Pat Lynch reflects the feelings and represents the feelings of the police officers but I don’t want to point fingers and blame,” he said. “I am going to talk to Pat Lynch. I know him for many years. I respect him as a leader, and I’m going to ask him to join with me and other leaders.

“Let’s bring the temperature down and the rhetoric down.”

New York City Police Commissioner Bill Bratton defended the mayor in an interview on NBC’s “Today,” but acknowledged that de Blasio has “lost some officers.”

“I don’t know that an apology is necessary,” he said about the calls that the mayor make amends.

“One of the things, a concern at the moment, is this issue is really starting to go down partisan lines: Republican, Democrat.”

President Obama also has come under criticism from some political figures for rhetoric that they say has inflamed the situation since the killings of African-Americans by police officers in New York City and Ferguson, Mo.

“The president says we have to have a conversation on race, and then he says it’s up to the police to change their tactics and their methods, implying that the police are the ones that are always wrong,” Rep. Pete King (R-N.Y.) said Monday on Fox News’s “America’s Newsroom.”

“Whatever was right or wrong about Staten Island, it was wrong of the mayor and the president to imply that somehow this involves race, that it was part of some endemic racism in the police department or in our society.”

But Democratic Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) accused union leaders of choosing to slam politicians instead of making productive steps to address gun control issues.

“They should be conducting interviews mourning those that they lost and their family, talking about how do insane people get firearms and not criticizing but seeing how we can stop insane people from getting an opportunity to get firearms to kill anybody,” Rangel said Monday on MSNBC’s “The Rundown.”

“Two human beings were shot dead; we should not be pointing fingers at the mayor of the city of New York.”

De Blasio referred to the deaths during a press conference Saturday as an “assassination” and an “attack on everything that we hold dear.” But that’s done little to quell criticism from officers, as a group physically turned their backs on de Blasio as he walked through the hospital to visit grieving families.

The mayor has been walking a fine line since a grand jury decided not to indict a white officer in the choking death of a black man in Staten Island earlier this month. As the husband of a black woman and the father of mixed-race children, de Blasio has spoken personally about the perception by some that justice isn’t applied fairly to minorities while also thanking officers for keeping the city safe.

Similarly, Obama has also repeatedly sought to balance his comments on racially charged episodes. Obama has formed a task force led by Philadelphia Police Chief Charles Ramsey that is aimed at improving relations between police forces and minority communities.

This story was last updated at 5:15 p.m.

David McCabe contributed.