From across the continent, they came to Queens to pay their respects to a hero in blue, brutally gunned down with his partner for no reason other than he wore an NYPD badge.
Clad in dress blues and white gloves on a sunny, cool morning, 23,000 police officers from as far away as San Diego and Canada and from every corner of New York gathered at Christ Tabernacle Church in Glendale, Queens, to bid farewell to Officer Rafael Ramos.
He and his partner, Officer Wenjian Liu, were shot dead Dec. 20 by Ismaaiyl Brinsley, a madman bent on avenging the police-custody death of Eric Garner. Brinsley fired four shots point-blank at the cops as they sat in a patrol car in Bedford-Stuyvesant.
Vice President Joe Biden, Gov. Cuomo, Mayor de Blasio and Police Commissioner Bill Bratton eulogized Ramos, a man beloved as a doting dad and devout Christian.
“When an assassin’s bullet targeted two officers, it targeted this city, and it touched the soul of an entire nation,” Biden said.
Outside, the sea of blue stood five rows deep, filling several blocks in every direction — the largest gathering ever for an NYPD funeral, officials said.
The somber proceedings were not devoid of politics and protest.
As de Blasio spoke, thousands of officers on Myrtle Avenue turned their backs on video screens and speakers broadcasting the service, a sign the rank-and-file still seethes at his perceived lack of support and dangerous rhetoric.
“GOD BLESS THE NYPD, DUMP DEBLASIO,” read a sign held up by retired NYPD Officer John Mangan.
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Biden drew applause by saying it was for good reason that the city’s police are called New York’s Finest.
“That is not is not an idle phrase,” Biden said. “This is probably the finest police department in the world.”
Biden, who lost his first wife and baby daughter in a car accident in 1972, addressed words of comfort to Ramos’ mother.
“No child should predecease a parent. My heart aches for you,” said Biden, who, after the funeral, also visited the Liu family in their home in Gravesend, Brooklyn.
Cuomo lightened the mood by mentioning that Ramos’ sons, Jaden and Justin, are Mets fans, “which tells us a lot about them: It means they are really tough, really committed and really, really, really loyal.”
Cuomo also praised the Police Department: “You represent public safety and law and order,” the governor said. “And an attack on the NYPD is an attack on all of us.”
De Blasio extended condolences on behalf of all 8.4 million New Yorkers.
“Our hearts are aching today. You can feel it physically, feel it deeply. New York City has lost a hero,” the mayor said.
His speech drew tepid applause.
Bratton also addressed part of his eulogy to Ramos’ sons.
“We’re here because your dad was assassinated,” he said. “It’s a different word than murder. It speaks of the prominence of the person killed.
“Your dad was assassinated because he represented something. He represented the men and the women of the NYPD. He represented the blue thread that holds our city together when disorder might pull it apart.
“But he was also your dad, a good man who tried hard and sacrificed and had a desire to serve.”
To thunderous applause, Bratton posthumously promoted both officers to detective first grade and held up the gold shield of the prestigious rank.
Ramos’ widow, Maritza, walked behind the casket. Ramos’ eldest son, college sophomore Justin, wore the jacket from his father’s dress uniform and fought back tears.
The white, green and blue NYPD flag that draped the coffin was handed to Maritza Ramos before the casket was loaded into a hearse for the trip to nearby Cypress Hills Cemetery.
Accompanying the hearse was a procession that included a record 260 police motorcycles and 93 bagpipers. Ten helicopters conducted a flyover.
Canadian Mounties, Texas state troopers and officers from Mississippi, Ohio, California, Florida and elsewhere saluted their NYPD comrade.
On every officer’s mind was the anti-police sentiment that has built up after months of protests over the fatal shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., and Garner’s death on Staten Island.
The cops are also concerned about de Blasio’s support for the demonstrators and what they deem to be his lack of respect for police.
Police were investigating 40 threats against cops as of Saturday, with nine arrests so far.
Meanwhile, 200 protesters defied de Blasio’s moratorium on demonstrations and marched in East New York, Brooklyn.
Funeral arrangements for Liu are pending.
Additional reporting by Shawn Cohen, Aaron Short, Larry Celona, Amber Jamieson and Kirstan Conley