Weather Interrupts New Round of Banner War Against New York Mayor: Reports

MOSCOW, January 5 (Sputnik) — High winds delayed a demonstration by pro-New York Police Department (NYPD) activists Monday, who planned to fly banners calling for the resignation of New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, New York Daily News reports.

Two planes with banners reading "DE BLASIO YOU FAILED ALL NY'ERS. IT'S TIME. RESIGN" and "NY SUPPORT NYPD. REST IN PEACE DETS LIU & RAMOS." were supposed to fly rounds over Hudson River from 11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. local time (16:00 – 17:30 GMT). A third plane with a banner saying "DE BLASIO & SHARPTON DUO OF DOOM FOR NYC!" was due to take off at 2:00 p.m. local time (19:00 GMT). The flights were rescheduled for Wednesday and Tuesday respectively.

A group of retired NYPD officials released a statement Monday saying that the first two banners were paid for by the group and meant "to support the brave men and women protecting our streets while protesting the glaring, dangerous disregard that Mayor de Blasio demonstrates toward the realities of public safety." Ashley Chalmers of Jersey Shore Aerial Advertising told New York Daily News that the third banner was not funded by the same organization.

The banner reading "NY SUPPORT NYPD. REST IN PEACE DETS LIU & RAMOS" refers to (NYPD) officers Wenjian Liu and his partner Rafael Ramos who were shot dead while on duty on December 20. The attacker, a 28-year-old African-American man with a history of arrests and alleged mental illness, vowed to avenge the deaths of unarmed African-Americans Michael Brown and Eric Garner who were killed by white policemen. The killing of Liu and Ramos followed weeks of nation-wide protests against police brutality and racial profiling as grand juries ruled not to indict the officers responsible for deaths of Brown and Garner.

At the officers' funerals, hundreds of NYPD officers turned their backs on the mayor as he was delivering his eulogy. The first plane with an anti-de Blasio slogan was seen flying above the Hudson on December 26.

According to the statement by retired NYPD officers, the group is accusing Mayor de Blasio of contributing to the officers' deaths "by putting textbook ideology ahead of reality, by hopelessly dividing the city, by compromising the work of the NYPD by creating false, slanderous impressions of its officers, by pandering to the Reverend Al Sharpton and by refusing to adequately condemn the protesters who were violating the law." Reverend Al Sharpton is an American Baptist minister and civil rights activist who organized several protest rallies after the death of Eric Garner.