Tragedy in East Harlem results in media opportunity for Rangel

Omar Edwards was an off-duty New York police officer who worked for the housing unit when he left work about 10:30 p.m. Thursday night. When he got to his car, he found someone rummaging through his vehicle and tried to stop him. He gave chase – gun drawn – down the street where three plain clothes officers noted Edwards running.

Reports indicate that Edwards did not identify himself and turned towards the three officers with gun in hand when he was ordered to stop. Tragically, Edwards was shot and killed.

The above recap is information the New York Daily News has gathered along with other news outlets.

Mayor Bloomberg, at a press conference at Harlem Hospital, said he expressed his sorrow to Edwards’ wife.

“Nothing that you can ever say will bring back the deceased. He was there protecting the rest of us. We will find out what happened,” Bloomberg said. “This is a tragedy. We’ll see what we can learn from it.”

Cops discovered Edwards was one of them when rescue crews cut open his shirt to treat the bleeding and saw a police academy shirt. They then searched his pockets and found his shield, sources said.

The only word I can think of is  ‘tragic’.

But Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) is never one to let a crisis go to waste. Hat tip to Malkin, leading us to a New York Post article mentioning a sick joke by the dufus representative.

Speaking yesterday at a rally in honor of slain cop Omar Edwards — gunned down by a fellow cop in a case of mistaken identity — the embattled congressman outrageously quipped that President Obama, in town for a date with First Lady Michelle, should watch his back walking around the Big Apple because he is black.

“Make certain he doesn’t run around East Harlem unidentified,” the controversial lawmaker snarked.

“If [he] did not have the Secret Service . . . around him, [city cops] wouldn’t know if he was president of the United States.”

The remark brought raucous cheers and laughter from the crowd of around 100.

Nothing left to say. RIP Officer Edwards.