A New York City police sergeant was so moved when he heard about a California police officer who was gunned down the day after Christmas — allegedly by an illegal alien during a routine traffic stop — that he’s hosting a fundraiser in Manhattan to help the officer’s wife and child.
Joseph Imperatrice, the founder of Blue Lives Matter-NYC, a nonprofit organization created to support law-enforcement officers and their families, told Newsmax he “got chills” when he heard the story of fallen Cpl. Ronil Singh of Newman, Calif.
He found the parallels uncanny. Imperatrice, an active-duty New York City sergeant with 13 years on the job, is the same age as Singh, who was born in Fiji and joined the Newman police department in 2011. The son that Singh leaves behind is about five months younger than Imperatrice’s 10-month-old boy.
Police say murder suspect Pablo Virgen Mendoza was in the country illegally. Sources say the suspect previously had been charged twice with driving under the influence.
Prosecutors say Singh pulled Mendoza over because he appeared to be driving while intoxicated. After Singh was shot, his assailant left him for dead in the road and drove off. What followed was a 55-hour manhunt, and police believe his killer was trying to flee back into Mexico when he was arrested in Bakersfield, Calif.
Stanislaus County Sheriff Adam Christianson has suggested California’s sanctuary laws may have limited law enforcement’s ability to get Mendoza off the streets despite multiple prior arrests.
“Law enforcement was prohibited because of sanctuary laws,” he said, “and that led to the encounter with Officer Singh.”
The case had such a high profile that President Trump referenced it during his Jan. 19 address on immigration, stating: “The lack of border control provides a gateway, and a very wide and open gateway, for criminals and gang members to enter the United States, including the criminal aliens who murdered a brave California police officer only a day after Christmas.”
When Imperatrice heard of Singh’s death and the bereaved family he left behind, he was deeply touched.
“Thinking that I could leave my son and never have a chance to watch him grow up,” Imperatrice told Newsmax, “and him not being able to know who his father was….
“Yes, his father was a hero. But he’ll never, ever, ever get to know his father’s love, his touch. That’s what hit me, that God forbid if something happened to me, I would want to know that people all over the United States, not just in New York, would have my back.”
Imperatrice and his colleagues will show they have Singh’s back on Feb. 6 at La Caverna restaurant in lower Manhattan. On that night, supporters will gather to remember and recognize a police officer who, on the other side of the country, fought for the same things they do.
Tickets are available at BlueLivesNYC.org, or online.
“It will be a nice casual, fun setting, people eating whatever they want,” Imperatrice tells Newsmax. “There will be raffles. There will be no rope, no VIP section, everyone will be together.”
The organization is flying in Singh’s brother, Rajnil, to the big event to show their unity in support of the fallen officer. Imperatrice says Rajnil has been “beyond grateful” in his emotional response to the group’s support from the other side of the country.
“One hundred percent of the proceeds coming in,” he adds, “which I hope in one night we can raise close to $15,000, will be donated to the family as a little bit something extra, whether the wife wants to put it toward bills or maybe toward the son’s education down the road.
“It’s hard to go to work every single day knowing it’s a very good chance, a reality, that you may not come home. There are no teachers or mail men or managers in a supermarket who ever have to worry about that,” Imperatrice says.
For those unable to attend the fundraiser, contributions to support Singh’s family can also be made online or by mail, via the Stanislaus Sworn Deputies Association.
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