NYC Council Speaker Voices Support for NYPD

Melissa Mark-Viverito said any violence against the police cannot be tolerated.

Tensions are high in New York City after the murders of two NYPD officers. They were shot over the weekend by a man said to be angry with the police for the deaths of unarmed black men. City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito is now expressing the need for solidarity with the police.

Mark-Viverito said she and the entire city council support the NYPD, and calls violence against them "disgusting." She says during this trying time, it's important to remember all the NYPD has done and sacrificed to keep the city safe. Mark-Viverito said the city should be united in mourning.

"Now is not the time for divisiveness. Now is not a time for animosity. And now is not a time for disunity. Now is a time... to come together as one New York family," Mark-Viverito said at City Hall on Tuesday.

Mark-Viverito echoed Mayor de Blasio's call for a temporary stop to protests. 

"We have to see beyond ourselves at this time. We have to see what is in the best interest of being respectful..." Mark-Viverito said of protesters. 

The council speaker along with the mayor have been criticized by police unions and others for anti-police rhetoric and legislation. 

Mark-Viverito took few questions after speaking at City Hall. She did not say whether or not the council will table police reform legislation currently in the works. The speaker also didn't comment on the council's "die in" protest earlier this month, which she supported. She did, however, disagree with the mayor's comments that anti-police rhetoric used by members of the media is partly to blame for the shootings.

NYPD officers Wenjiun Lui and Rafael Ramos were shot and killed on Saturday afternoon in Brooklyn by Ismaaiyl Brinsley.