N.Y. Officer Killed by Thrown Bucket Is Mourned
NEW YORK — Hundreds of police officers came together Tuesday to mourn the loss of a comrade who was killed by a bucket of plaster hurled from a building’s roof, an act that quickly became an issue in the heated mayoral race.
Housing police officer John Williamson was hit by the 30-pound pail Friday as police helped tow illegally parked cars from Washington Heights, one of the city’s roughest neighborhoods.
“When a police officer dies, the very heart and soul of the city dies a little bit. . . . Where does it end? Where does it end?†Monsignor Nicholas Sivillo asked some 1,200 mourners who jammed St. Joan of Arc Roman Catholic Church in the borough of Queens.
Pedro Jose Gil, a 22-year-old restaurant cook, was arraigned Tuesday on a second-degree murder charge and ordered held without bail. Gil, who left for his native Dominican Republic a day after the killing, was arrested at John F. Kennedy International Airport when he returned on Monday.
Officers were enraged by eyewitness reports that some bystanders cheered when the bucket hit Williamson.
“This is the same area where the Fire Department was firebombed back in early July,†Timothy Nickels, president of the Housing Police Benevolent Assn., said in reference to an earlier violent episode.
Williamson, 25, was the second officer in New York killed in the line of duty this year. Four were killed last year.
His slaying quickly became a political issue when Republican mayoral candidate Rudolph W. Giuliani accused Mayor David N. Dinkins of “caving in to the mob†by suspending the car towing.
Dinkins accused Giuliani of “despicable behavior,†saying his opponent was trying to gain politically from an officer’s death. He later denied that the towing operation was suspended.
Washington Heights, a section considered one of the city’s worst for drug dealing, is part of the 34th Precinct, which led the city in murders last year with 98.
Dinkins and Giuliani attended the funeral despite reports that Williamson’s family had asked politicians to stay away.
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