Shaking a Community: The Death of a Police Officer
It’s a disgusting but familiar story. Officer Miosotis Familia’s killer was a murderer in the making, and nobody cared. (“Commish: Where is the Outrage?” July 12).
Alexander Bonds assaulted a police officer with a weapon in 2001 and was arrested several times for drug sales and jumping turnstiles. In 2004, he was convicted of selling a controlled substance near a school.
Likely to no one’s surprise, he was incarcerated again for a gunpoint robbery in Syracuse in 2005. He was released in 2013, but was still on parole when he shot and killed Officer Familia.
If he was simply held to a legitimate sentence rather than freed time and again, Officer Familia, a hero to a troubled neighborhood, would have lived to serve another day. Paul Grattan Montgomery
My heart goes out to Officer Familia. What a shame this officer died trying to protect the people of New York City.
Where is the outrage from Black Lives Matter?
They should be ashamed. They only show up when they can gain publicity from a tragedy. Lance Lovejoy Maspeth
At the funeral of Officer Familia, Police Commissioner James O’Neill asked: “Where is the outrage?”
Leadership starts from the top. Just days after this hero was murdered, Mayor de Blasio skipped town to go join anarchists in Hamburg to protest the president.
In the same week, he skipped the induction services for the new class of young men and women who have chosen to volunteer their lives for what’s become the thankless task of protecting our safety and freedom.
Opposition to police is indeed a pillar of this mayor’s platform. It’s amazing that none of his behavior is disqualifying. To the contrary, incredibly, he’s a shoo-in for reelection.
What a sad statement about where we are today as a society. I thank our police for their continued service. Bless the men and women in blue. Matthew Toboroff Manhattan
It was only half an hour past the end of Independence Day when Officer Familia was shot to death.
It’s sadly ironic that we celebrated our rights to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” just hours before she was unfairly deprived of those rights and taken away from her three children, relatives, friends and all of us whom she did her best to “serve and protect.”
She was killed by someone who was on the streets despite his life of crime. I’m glad he no longer has his liberty or life.
May Familia’s three children somehow find happiness despite the loss of
With the tragic assassination of Officer Familia, we are reminded of the assassinations of Officers Wenjian Liu and Rafael Ramos, who were also shot through the window of their vehicle.
How many officers must be killed or wounded before bulletproof glass is installed in every police vehicle?
City and state politicians squander billions on expense accounts, etc. But the subject of bulletproof glass must be endlessly “studied.”
Hopefully the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association and other groups will continue to put the pressure on politicians, especially when they seek reelection. John Brindisi Manhattan
After police officers turned their backs on him at Officer Familia’s funeral, Mayor de Blasio responded by saying it wasn’t the time or place to make “some kind of political statement.”
I wish he had felt going to Germany after one of our courageous officers lost her life wasn’t the time or place. David DiBello Brooklyn