PROTESTS VS. DeB ARE ‘BACK’
Rank-and-file turns away from mayor at funeral
Hundreds of NYPD officers on Tuesday turned their backs on Mayor de Blasio — again — at the funeral of a cop.
The disgusted Finest were assembled outside the World Changers Church in The Bronx on Tuesday as part of the overflow crowd of mourners for assassinated Officer Miosotis Familia.
They showed the building their backs as speakers broadcast de Blasio’s eulogy for Familia from inside.
The protest came after de Blasio skipped town to participate in protests at the G-20 summit in Germany last week — the day after Familia was killed by cophating gunman Alexander Bonds.
And as he prepared for the trip, the mayor missed a swearing-in ceremony for new police recruits, an event that was especially poignant in light of Familia’s murder.
Sergeants Benevolent Association President Ed Mullins said de Blasio deserved the snub.
“Mr. Mayor, you didn’t have to travel to Germany for a protest — all you had to do is speak in front of the men and women of the NYPD,’’ Mullins said.
Protesting officers chatted with one another and swiped through their phones while their backs were turned.
Many turned back around when Police Commissioner James O’Neill stepped up to speak — but not everyone paid respectful attention even then.
Some officers griped that they feel even the commissioner has not had their backs since the case of NYPD Sgt. Hugh Barry, who fatally shot a scissors-wielding Bronx woman in October.
Right after the shooting, O’Neill said police “failed,’’ and Barry has been charged with murder in the woman’s death.
“They preached support for us, but these have become hollow words only used in an election year,” a cop said, referring to de Blasio and O’Neill.
“How can you respect these people when they speak from both sides of their mouths?”
The cops’ snub of de Blasio marked the third time in his tenure that has happened.
They showed him their backs during the funerals of slain Detectives Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu, who were executed by a cop-hating man in 2014.
Officers gave de Blasio the brush-off at Ramos’ funeral in Queens and then gave him another view of their backs days later at Liu’s Brooklyn funeral — even though then-Police Commissioner Bill Bratton called the display “very inappropriate” and urged cops not to make a repeat performance.
At Familia’s funeral, de Blasio called the fallen Finest “a hero.”
“Officer Miosotis Familia lived life the right way,” he said.
A de Blasio spokesman downplayed his boss’ shunning by police at the service.
“A couple dozen people showed up to partake in a bogus controversy ginned up by the media and those looking to politicize Detective Familia’s death,” rep Austin Finan wrote in an e-mail to The Post.
“That’s unfortunate,’ he wrote.’