Lynbrook backs the blue at rally to support law enforcement

Lynbrook High School students and staff members, elected officials and residents gathered outside the school on Feb. 9 to “back the blue” in a show of support for law enforcement and to honor the memory of two slain New York City police officers.

The gathering was dedicated to the memory of Officer Jason Rivera, 22, who died after being shot in Harlem on Jan. 21, and Officer Wilbert Mora, 27, who was shot by the same gunman and succumbed to his injury on Jan. 25.

“The student government came up with the idea to have a ‘blue’ day, and I thought it was a great idea,” Board of Education President William Belmont said. “. . . There’s nothing political about being a police officer. They don’t show up at your house if you call 911 and ask you what your political beliefs are, so I think it’s a wonderful thing to do at a time when police are under attack and being vilified, which I don’t understand.”

About 25 students were joined by elected officials, teachers and administrators for the event. Belmont said that the biggest role in government is to keep the community safe, and that it was important to show law enforcement officers that the village supported them.

Rivera died on Jan. 21, just hours after being shot by Lashawn McNeil, 47, who opened fire on him and Mora after coming out from behind a bedroom door and surprising the officers as they walked down a narrow hallway in McNeil’s Harlem apartment. McNeil was shot by a third officer, rookie Sumit Sulan, and died on Jan. 24. Rivera became one of the youngest NYPD officers to die in the line of duty. Hundreds of officers, elected officials and civilians attended Rivera’s and Mora’s funerals earlier this month in Manhattan.

Shows of support have also grown locally, with East Rockaway hosting a memorial vigil for the officers earlier this month, and Lynbrook business Doughology selling 5,000 specialty doughnuts and donating the profits to the slain officers’ families. The efforts continued with the student-organized event at LHS.

“I’m very proud any time kids self-advocate,” Belmont said. “I think it’s important. I’m someone who greatly feels that however you can do it, you should be making the world a better place.”

Among the notable attendees was Lynbrook Police Chief Brian Paladino, who said that in his 25 years on the job, he has heard both praise and criticism. “Locally, the Lynbrook community has consistently shown overwhelming support for our department,” Paladino said in a statement. “However, that is generally the sentiment of the adult population. Young adults are impressionable, and sometimes buy into anti-police sentiment, and may be skeptical of their relationship with the police. That’s why it was a courageous act by the young adults who comprise the Lynbrook High School Student Government Association to take a stand, and tell their peers that they support the police and cared enough to raise money for Detectives Mora and Rivera.”

Paladino added that he “couldn’t be more proud” of the students for helping the fallen officers’ families, especially as many segments of the population “are running away from us.”

Others who attended the event included Mayor Alan Beach and the village board; Nassau County Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder, a Lynbrook High alumnus; Superintendent of Schools Dr. Melissa Burak; LHS Principal Joseph Rainis; Hempstead Town Councilman Anthony D’Esposito, a former NYPD detective, and County Legislator Bill Gaylor, who lauded the students for their efforts.

“Supporting our law enforcement is not a political stance, but rather recognizes the sacrifices that officers and their families make daily to keep us safe,” Gaylor said in a statement. “Thank you to Principal Rainis for supporting that.”