Syracuse, NY — President Joe Biden met Thursday with the families of two Central New York police officers slain earlier this month in the line of duty.
The meetings with the families of sheriff’s Lt. Michael Hoosock and Syracuse police Officer Michael Jensen took place after the president’s 2 pm speech inside the MOST museum in Armory Square, sheriff’s spokesman Tom Newton confirmed.
Biden stayed in Syracuse more than an hour longer than planned to talk with the families.
During his speech Thursday afternoon, Biden expressed sympathy to the officers’ survivors, noting his own personal tragedy: the 1972 deaths of his first wife, Neilia, and their 1-year-old daughter, Naomi in a car crash that also injured his two sons.
“We pray for their loved ones whose hearts have been broken,” he said. “You know, every time a police officer puts on that shield every morning, their husband or wife or (children) worries about when they get that phone call. We get that phone call. I got one of those phone calls in different circumstances.”
Govt. Kathy Hochul held a moment of silence in honor of the two slain officers before introducing Biden to the crowd inside the MOST.
County Executive Ryan McMahon also extolled the two officers for their service.
“They were superheroes in our community,” McMahon said. “These were people who loved their families, who loved their brothers and sisters in law enforcement and who loved their community. They gave the ultimate sacrifice for this community.”
Jensen and Hoosock were killed in a shootout around 9 pm Sunday, April 14, when following up on a traffic stop in the town of Salina where the driver had sped away. Police killed the gunman, who had built an illegal AR-15 with a 40-round clip. A New York state law passed after the Sandy Hook massacre limits magazines to 10 bullets.
Jensen’s funeral was Saturday in his hometown of Rome, NY Hoosock’s funeral was Monday at the New York State Fairgrounds.
Biden’s visit required a large police presence at the same time officers are still mourning the fallen officers. After days of communication between the White House and local law enforcement, Cecile and Shelley said they were confident in the plan for the presidential visit.
State police are filling in for city police officers to handle security and traffic.
Still, the White House received criticism over the planned visit from the head of Syracuse’s police union, who wanted Biden to postpone the visit.
Syracuse police are generally required to work or are prevented from taking time off during presidential visits. That was waived after Hochul offered that troopers would step in. Except for specialty units and top leaders, all city police working the detail for Biden’s visit will be volunteers, Cecile said.
County Sheriff Toby Shelley met Biden very briefly in a reception line before the speech, Shelley said. The president knew him by name, and he told Shelley to keep his head up during this hard time and that his prayers to him were with all the deputies, he said.
The White House contacted Shelley for a chance to meet the president, he said.
Staff writer Mark Weiner contributed to this report.
