New York City Mayor and former NYPD Captain Eric Adams highlighted the tributes to Officer Jason Rivera at his funeral Friday. Rivera was one of two officers killed last week by a gunman who opened fire on them in a hallway as they responded to a family dispute.
“He can still hear us from a distance,” Mayor Adams said. “He hears our voices, he hears our prayers, he hears our hopes. We as a city, as a state, and as a nation, we say thank you, Jason. We care about each other. That’s what makes this city possible, along with the courage of officers like Jason Rivera.”
The funeral for Officer Rivera was also highlighted by an emotional speech from Rivera’s widow, Dominique Luzuriaga. She described rushing to the hospital after hearing that he had been shot.
“Seeing you in a hospital bed wrapped up in sheets, not hearing you when I was talking to you broke me,” Luzuriaga said. “I asked, ‘Why?’ I said to you, ‘Wake up, baby. I’m here.’ The little bit of hope I had that you will come back to life just to say goodbye or say, ‘I love you’ one more time had left. I was lost. I’m still lost. Today I’m still in this nightmare that I wish I never had, full of rage and anger, hurt and sad, torn. Although I gained thousands of blue brothers and sisters, I’m the loneliest without you.”
Rivera’s death comes amid a spike in violent crime across the country. Adams is set to meet with President Joe Biden next week to discuss how to address the spike.
“The tragic death of your brother in blue uniform is a stark reminder of what is on the line every day,” Adams said at the funeral, according to a tweet from Newsmax. “I’m here, sitting next to the governor of the state of New York, Sen. Chuck Schumer and other electeds. We’re committed to giving you the resources to do your jobs and ensure that we can keep the people of this city safe.”