Rest Easy, Officers

Wenjian Liu and Rafael Ramos were sitting in their patrol car, doing their job. Cops and their families get that the job is dangerous, and things can go badly. Most days, thankfully, it doesn't.

Ismaaiyl Brinsley came to Brooklyn intent on making good on that threat. This madman had shot his own girlfriend in Maryland, and then tweeted that he wanted to kill two police officers. He walked up to Liu and Ramos' vehicle, and ambushed them both, killing them. The cowardly Brinsley then fled down the street to a subway platform, and killed himself there. It's the only favor he did society today.

The NYPD may not be popular with everyone right now, but they are some of the bravest people in the country. They are an outstanding police force, on the whole, and they do a good job of protecting a city so large that it may seem incapable of protection. To see two officers killed on their patrol is jarring and quite troubling. They were randomly targeted by a person so stupid as to think that his violent act would have some form of positive impact on the on-going discussion of police-community relations. This deranged individual not only did not achieve anything positive, he probably set the solution back by years.

In any event, my prayers this Sunday morning are with the souls of the two officers, and their grieving families.