Embattled Mayor Bill de Blasio has urged New Yorkers to put aside politics and protests to mourn two murdered police officers as he sought to head off furious criticism of his conduct.
Wenjian Liu, 32, and Rafael Ramos, 40, were shot in the head through the window of their patrol car in broad daylight in Brooklyn on Saturday following weeks of anti-police protests.
Police named the shooter as Ismaaiyl Brinsley, 28, whom officers said had an anti-police bias and who shot himself dead on a subway station platform just minutes after the murders.
The killings have rocked America's largest city and plunged its largest police force into mourning, triggering comparisons with police-community tensions not seen in the city since the 1970s.
"I think it's a time for everyone to put aside political debates, put aside protests and put aside all of those things we'll talk about in due time," de Blasio told a police charity lunch.
"It was an attack on our democracy, it was an attack on our values and attack on every single New Yorker," he said of the murders.
Police unions lashed out at de Blasio, accusing him of creating a dangerous mood by allowing demonstrators to shut down New York streets in protest at recent police killings of unarmed black men.
Cities across the United States have seen weeks of protests over the killings and decisions not to prosecute white officers responsible for recent deaths in New York and Ferguson, Missouri.
De Blasio, who has biracial children, has fended off mounting criticism for wanting to reform police tactics and allegedly not being sympathetic enough to the problems police face.
On Monday, he praised the force unstintingly and called for a temporary lull in protests until after the funerals take place.
"I would ask that any organisations that were planning events or gatherings for politics or protests, that could be for another day," de Blasio said.
"Let's accompany these families on their difficult journey and see them through the funerals. Then debate can begin again."
De Blasio described Brinsley as a "deeply troubled, violent individual" and called on people to take stock of what unites them as Americans and as New Yorkers, and focus on the families.
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