I am not seeing a diary about this, so I'll write one.
From Yahoo:
NEW YORK (AP) — An armed man walked up to two New York Police Department officers sitting inside a patrol car and opened fire Saturday afternoon, killing one and critically injuring a second before running into a nearby subway station and committing suicide, police said.
Wow. That's extreme and scary and, gee, you say it happened in New York City?
The New York City where Eric Garner's killer was not prosecuted? Imagine that.
In a somewhat surprising twist of actual journalism, Yahoo even linked the two incidents right off the bat:
The shooting comes at a time when police in New York and nationwide are being heavily criticized for their tactics following the chokehold death of Eric Garner, a black man who was stopped by police for selling loose, untaxed cigarettes and could be heard on an amateur video gasping, "I can't breathe" as he was being arrested.
I fear for this nation. I truly do. And, just to be clear, I do not believe these officers deserved what happened to them (as was suggested in the comments), but I think America has been a tinderbox since Mike Brown's murder. I do feel like this was almost bound to happen, sooner or later, because
police forces all around the country do not appear to be listening to the people they police.
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UPDATE, 3:47 pm: Per multiple sources, both police officers have died. :/
UPDATE, 4:13 pm: I deleted the NY Post article from the diary because it can't be corroborated. No one else is reporting on the Instagram account yet and I cannot, in good conscience, provide false information.
UPDATE, 4:28 pm: Al Sharpton released a statement, in connection with the Garner family:
“I have spoken to the Garner family and we are outraged by the early reports of the police killed in Brooklyn today, Any use of the names of Eric Garner and Michael Brown, in connection with any violence or killing of police, is reprehensible and against the pursuit of justice in both cases.
We have stressed at every rally and march that anyone engaged in any violence is an enemy to the pursuit of justice for Eric Garner and Michael Brown. We have been criticized at National Action Network for not allowing rhetoric or chanting of violence and would abruptly denounce it at all of our gatherings. The Garner family and I have always stressed that we do not believe that all police are bad, in fact we have stressed that most police are not bad.
We plan to hold a press conference in the morning to express our outrage and our condolences to the families and the police department. Details to follow.”
UPDATE, 4:45 pm: Thanks to psychodrew in the comments below, we now have a
more reliable source for the Instagram account than the fucking NY Post, even though they are linking back to the Post. LOL.
Also, from the same Gawker article:
The New York Daily News has identified the shooter as Ismaaiyl Brinsley. Ismaaiyl Abdullah Brinsley has multiple arrest records in Georgia.
Police officials have also reportedly connected Brinsley to a shooting in Baltimore this morning in which he allegedly shot his girlfriend. Before it was suspended, there were comments on the Instagram account shown above from a woman claiming that the owner of the account had shot her niece.
UPDATE, 5:40 pm: Mayor DeBlasio held a press conference regarding the shootings. Someone in the comments suggested that the police are now threatening the mayor.
This story is spiraling into all sorts of directions, so if anybody wants to write another diary on it, please, be my guest! I can't keep up anymore!