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Giuliani Hints Officers Wouldn't Have Been Killed if He Was Mayor: Report

By Nicholas Rizzi | April 27, 2015 1:24pm | Updated on April 27, 2015 1:33pm

Former Mayor Rudy Giuliani, speaking at a rally for Congressional candidate and Staten Island District Attorney Dan Donovan over the weekend, implied the execution-style murders of two NYPD officers wouldn't have happened if he was still in charge, according to the New York Observer.

Giuliani reportedly said the "turmoil" that rocked the city after the death of Eric Garner during an arrest by the NYPD helped "draw in" the gunman who shot the officers at point-blank range.

“It was our police officers whose families had to suffer when they got shot... an assassination of Officer [Wenjian] Liu and Officer [Rafael] Ramos that did not have to take place, it never should have happened,” Giuliani told the crowd in Staten Island on Sunday, according to the Observer

“The man came all the way from Baltimore here to assassinate two of our police officers," Giuliani reportedly continued.

“You don’t think the turmoil that was going on in New York didn’t help draw him in?"

The Observer reported a woman shouted back "Absolutely!" 

Giuliani replied, “You think he would have shown up here when I was mayor?

“No way, Rudy baby!” the woman shouted, according to the Observer.

Liu, 32, and Ramos, 40, were sitting in a Critical Response Vehicle in Bed-Stuy In December when Ismaaiyl Brinsley, 28, walked up and shot them both.

Brinsley had posted on Instagram before the shooting that he was going to "put wings on pigs today" and used hashtags referencing Garner and Michael Brown.

As District Attorney, Donovan was responsible for overseeing the grand jury investigation into the officer accused of putting Garner, 44, into a chokehold before his death. A grand jury ruled not to indict the officer, Daniel Pantaleo, sparking a wave of protests across the city.

Now Donovan is now running to replace disgraced Rep. Michael Grimm, who had to step down from his congressional seat following charges of tax fraud.

Police union leaders charged that Mayor Bill de Blasio's comments after the Garner decision, and his relationship with the protesters, created the environment that lead to Brinsley's actions.

Donovan faces off against Democratic Councilman Vincent Gentile in a special election on May 5 for the congressional seat.