RantCrush Top 5: July 5, 2017

Around 12:30 am on Wednesday, a gunman shot an NYPD police officer while she was sitting in her patrol car in the Bronx. Officer Miosotis Familia was rushed to the hospital, where she died. The gunman, who was later identified as Alexander Bonds, was shot and killed by two officers after a brief chase. He had previously been convicted of assaulting a police officer with brass knuckles, and served seven years for robbery until he was paroled in 2013. “Let’s be clear. This was nothing less than an assassination of a police officer. Our understanding is she was filling out her memo book and he walked out and fired one round,” said an anonymous police source to New York Daily News.

Hundreds of heavily armed officers were sent to the streets of the Bronx and witnesses said it looked like a riot was going on. The NYC Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association pleaded in a statement for the public to come forward if they see or hear someone making threats against police officers. “This kind of violence against police officers cannot stand,” the organization’s president, Pat Lynch, said.

#NYPD PO Miosotis Familia has been assassinated in an unprovoked attack on cops assigned to keep New Yorkers safe. pic.twitter.com/mtXjiLGvro

— Ann Nyberg (@AnnNyberg) July 5, 2017

Emma Von Zeipel

Emma Von Zeipel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. She is originally from one of the islands of Stockholm, Sweden. After working for Democratic Voice of Burma in Thailand, she ended up in New York City. She has a BA in journalism from Stockholm University and is passionate about human rights, good books, horses, and European chocolate. Contact Emma at EVonZeipel@LawStreetMedia.com.