The two NYPD officers killed yesterday have been formally identified as Officer Wenjian Liu and Officer Rafael Ramos.

HEARTBREAKING: Police & fire fighters saluting as the two slain NYPD officers' bodies are transported. Reuters pic.twitter.com/hAylcpjjCb

— Breaking News Feed (@pzf) December 21, 2014

VIDEO: 100s of fellow officers salute 2 NYPD officers shot, killed in Brooklyn: http://t.co/34zfzStpLX – @ABC7NY pic.twitter.com/ubXn42FY0S

— ABC News (@ABC) December 21, 2014

And if you want to start crying, just read this:

The perp has now been formally identified as Ismaayil Brinsley, age 28. He was originally reported to have murdered his girlfriend before murdering the officers. The girlfriend’s family says that she will survive the shooting.

Hours before he showed up in Brooklyn, Brinsley shot his ex-girlfriend at about 5:45 a.m. in Owings Mills, Md., about 15 miles from Baltimore.
The 29-year-old woman, who was hit in the stomach, underwent surgery and was expected to survive, a family member told The News.

Brinsley stole the woman’s phone after the shooting — and headed for New York. At some point along the way, he posted a menacing update on Facebook.

“I always wanted to be known for doing something right … but my past is stalking me and my present is haunting me,” it read.

“Why live if you don’t love to live,” he added in a second post, his last.

Brinsley also apparently bragged about shooting his ex-gal pal. On his Instagram account, he posted a photo of army fatigues with apparent blood stains. “Never had a hot gun on your waist and blood on your shoe … N—a you ain’t been through what I been through you not like me and im not like you.”

His Instagram messages reference both Eric Garner and Michael Brown, and he clearly believed that he was taking “revenge” on the police.

Getting from NYPD sources, possible shooter's Instagram. Will update when confirmed. @ChuckCJohnson pic.twitter.com/FF43OEib5w

— John Cardillo (@johncardillo) December 20, 2014

After committing the murders, Brinsley fled the scene to a subway station, where he committed suicide as he was confronted by police.

Witnesses told police that Brins­ley wordlessly blasted into the patrol car’s front passenger-side window.
Then he stood stock still for a few moments, fleeing into the subway only when he heard the sirens of a second police car.
Once in the subway, “they engaged the guy and he did himself,” one investigator said.

As reported here earlier by fellow Victory Girl Jodi, Mayor Bill de Blasio got the silent treatment with backs turned from the police at the hospital. And police union leadership is placing blame squarely on de Blasio.

“There’s blood on many hands tonight,” Patrolman’s Benevolent Association President Patrick Lynch said late Saturday. “Those that incited violence on this street under the guise of protest, that tried to tear down what New York City police officers did everyday.

“We tried to warn it must not go on, it cannot be tolerated,” Lynch continued. “That blood on the hands starts on the steps of city hall in the office of the mayor.”

But what of President Obama? After making statements after the Ferguson verdict and making comments on the Garner case, what does the president have to say about this targeted killing of police officers?

Well, initially, nothing. He’s on vacation in Hawaii. Finally, a weak statement was produced by the White House.

POTUS stmt: "I unconditionally condemn" murders of NYPD officers. "Ask people to reject violence." pic.twitter.com/4unAqwLFSf

— Mike Memoli (@mikememoli) December 21, 2014

Or, as Byron York succinctly put it:

Golf round finished, Obama releases statement on murders of two NYPD officers: 'unconditionally condemn.'

— Byron York (@ByronYork) December 21, 2014

And this is probably a lot closer to the truth than the White House will admit:

“Unconditionally condemn” reads like a tacit admission he got a little too close to protest movement.

— John Ekdahl (@JohnEkdahl) December 21, 2014

But what of Eric Holder, who routinely probes police departments with big civil rights investigations, and most recently announced a series of findings regarding the Cleveland police department designed to enforce Justice Department policy? He released a statement that condemned the murders, and then said this:

Our nation must always honor the valor — and the sacrifices — of all law enforcement officers with a steadfast commitment to keeping them safe. This means forging closer bonds between officers and the communities they serve, so that public safety is not a cause that is served by a courageous few, but a promise that’s fulfilled by police officials and citizens working side by side.

“Forging closer bonds”? Are you kidding? After routinely discrediting local police departments in the eyes of their communities, you now want to bring them together? After actively scaring police into not interfering with violent protests, you now want “police officials and citizens working side by side” and you want valor and sacrifice honored? The next thing I would tell Mr. Holder to do is anatomically impossible.

And now, Al Sharpton, who says that he’s spoken with the Garner family, who are “outraged” at the murders.

I am outraged at the killing of 2 police officers in Brooklyn. That is why we stress non violence as the only way to fight for justice.

— Reverend Al Sharpton (@TheRevAl) December 20, 2014

He also promises a press conference today. Because if there’s a chance to get on TV making grand pronouncements, he’s there in a heartbeat.

After sowing the seeds of mistrust and hatred, indifference and contempt, Sharpton, de Blasio, Holder, and Obama are reaping the harvest of their words and actions. Because it was those words and actions that inspired Brinsley – who had a long rap sheet – to commit murder in the names of Eric Garner and Michael Brown. It cost two officers their lives. I pray that no more police officers will be sacrificed to this harvest.