Wiesenthal Center Officials Pay Last Respects to Slain NYPD Officer

January 5, 2015

Senior officials of the Simon Wiesenthal Center were among the thousands of mourners who attended the funeral of Detective Wenjian Liu on Sunday, January 4th. Liu and his fellow officer were murdered “execution style” last month as they sat in their patrol car.

Mark Weitzman, SWC Director of Government Affairs (pictured) and Rabbi Steven Burg, SWC Eastern Director both attended the funeral of Detective Wenjian Liu.

Weitzman reflected that, "It was very emotional to see the thousands of law enforcement officers who came from across the nation to pay their last respects to one of their own. We are truly lucky to live in a country where we are protected around the clock by such selfless public servants."

Rabbi Burg noted, "New York Police Commissioner William Bratton spoke about how Detective Liu had originally planned to become an accountant. However, he changed his life's path after 9/11. Liu and Ramos are what real heroism is all about.”

“This felt like a personal loss for everyone at the Wiesenthal Center, since we constantly welcome many of these same NYPD officers who train at our Museums of Tolerance,” Rabbi Burg noted, adding, “We were also proud of the sizable representation from the NY Jewish community at the funeral. The Liu and Ramos families now know that their loss is our loss.”

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The Simon Wiesenthal Center is one of the largest international Jewish human rights organizations with over 400,000 member families in the United States. It is an NGO at international agencies including the United Nations, UNESCO, the OSCE, the OAS, the Council of Europe and the Latin American Parliament (Parlatino).