Rep. Peter King on Saturday described the services for slain New York City police officer Rafael Ramos as "very moving, very sad, very inspiring."
"A terribly sad week for New York," said the Republican congressman, who shared his thoughts with Newsmax after the officer's funeral in Queens. "Its very soul was attacked.
"But New York's finest are standing stronger than ever," King added. "We all must stand with them."
Ramos, 40, was murdered, execution style, last Saturday with his partner, Wenjian Liu, 32, as they sat in their marked squad car in Brooklyn.
The killer, Ismaaiyl Brinsley, 28, shot himself in the head as officers chased him on a nearby subway platform.
Ramos' services were held at Christ Tabernacle Church in the Glendale section of Queens. Arrangements for Liu have yet to be announced.
Police Commissioner William Bratton posthumously promoted the officers to detectives.
King, a member of the House Homeland Security Committee, told Newsmax that he grew up in Glendale and that his father worked for the department for 33 years.
More than 25,000 police officers from around the nation and Canada attended Ramos' funeral.
"The streets of Glendale were filled with police from all over America," King told Newsmax. "Christ Tabernacle Church was overflowing with mourners.
"The church was dark. The lights were blue and dimmed," he added. "The somber mood interrupted by inspirational hymns."
Vice President Joe Biden spoke, as did Bratton, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio. Former Mayor Rudy Giuliani also attended.
"Eulogies by Vice President Biden, Gov. Cuomo and Commissioner Bratton were well received," King said. "Mayor de Blasio gets polite response in church. Little enthusiasm."
Officers — both inside and outside Christ Tabernacle — turned their backs on de Blasio during his comments. Police union officials
have accused the mayor and the Rev. Al Sharpton of fostering a climate that led to the officers' deaths.
As the Ramos family left the church, they were presented with the flag that had draped the slain officer's coffin.
Ramos was the married father of two sons, a 13-year-old and one who is a sophomore at Bowdoin College in Maine.
"They displayed amazing grace and dignity," King said.
He described the scene outside after the service.
"Twelve police helicopters flew overhead," the congressman said, adding that "400 police motorcycles drove by in tribute. Local residents looked out their windows."
As the cortège departed along Myrtle Avenue in Glendale, "accompanied by the muted drums of the NYPD's bagpipe band, the thousands of police outside the church slowly begin to disperse," King said.
The congressman thanked Biden for attending — and "Rudy Giuliani says he and I have been at too many funerals." Giuliani served two terms as mayor, from 1994 to 2001.
He also greeted Patrolmen's Benevolent Association President Pat Lynch, "who is always fighting for his members."
Many police officers mingled on side streets, King said, "their tough faces lined with grief."
Afterward, the representative stopped by a local diner with two detectives.
"I talked with cops who feel abandoned by politicians and the media," King told Newsmax. "They will keep up the fight, but wonder who has their back."
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.