The grieving widow of slain New York Police Department (NYPD) Officer Jason Rivera called out Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg on Friday for not keeping the city safe, the Daily Caller reported.
Visibly distraught, Dominique Luzuriaga spoke to her husband, during his funeral service. "You have the whole nation on gridlock," Luzuriaga said. "And although you won't be here anymore, I want you to live through me.
"We are not safe anymore, not even the members of the service," she continued. "I know you were tired of these new laws, especially the ones from the new DA. I hope he's watching you speak through me right now," she said, followed by thunderous applause and a standing ovation.
Fox News reported that Bragg was in attendance.
The newly minted DA announced in one of his first days in office that he would be applying less stringent policies for prosecuting certain crimes, Fox News reported. He later clarified the controversial memo, saying it gave the "wrong impression."
Sobbing, Luzuriaga told the crowd of mourners how she and Rivera had had an "argument" the morning of his death.
"You know, it's hard being a cop wife sometimes," she said, noting, despite all the hardships that came with being a cop's wife, Rivera "always reminded me that it was going to be all right."
"This Friday we were arguing because I didn't want you to use your job phone while we were together," she said, recalling how she ordered an Uber to leave his apartment since they were fighting. "I didn't want to continue to argue [so I] ordered an Uber. You asked me if you are sure that you don't want me to take you home. It might be the last ride I give you. I said no.
"That was probably the biggest mistake I ever made," a weeping Luzuriaga said. "Later that day I received a call I wish none of you that are sitting here with me will ever receive."
Rivera, 22, and his partner Wilbert Mora, 27, were ambushed at a Harlem apartment building while responding to a domestic violence call last Friday. Rivera died that same day, but Mora lived for two more days while doctors tried to remove the bullet lodged in his brain.
The suspect, 47-year-old Lashawn McNeil, opened fire on the officers as they tried to talk to him, police said. McNeil died from his police-inflicted wounds, the NYPD confirmed Monday.
Following the recent string of shootings, Bragg told The New York Times that he plans on taking a tougher stance on gun violence. While campaigning, Bragg emphasized that certain gun possession cases did not need to lead to imprisonment or prosecution, according to the report.
"I promise, we promise, that your death won't be in vain," Luzuriaga said, just before she stepped down from the podium. "I love you to the end of time. We'll take the watch from here."
Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell posthumously promoted Rivera to detective first grade during the ceremony.
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