NEW YORK (CBS News) — Leaders of protests against police tactics in dealing with African-Americans say they plan to defy calls from New York Mayor Bill de Blasio for a pause in demonstrations until the two officers ambushed and slain Saturday are laid to rest.
De Blasio’s calls came amid a widening rift with those in a grieving police force who accuse him of creating a climate of mistrust that contributed to the killings of the two officers.
De Blasio called Monday for a halt of political statements until after the funerals of the slain officers, an appeal to both sides in a roiling dispute centered on the deaths of unarmed black men at the hands of white police officers.
“We are in a very difficult moment. Our focus has to be on these families,” de Blasio said at police headquarters, referring to the families of the two slain police officers. “I think it’s a time for everyone to put aside political debates, put aside protests, put aside all of the things that we will talk about in all due time.”