NYPD chief doesn't support officers turning their backs on mayor

After a video of NYPD police officers turning their back on New York's Mayor Bill de Blasio went viral over the weekend, the city's police commissioner, Bill Bratton, says he does not support "that particular activity."

The officers were waiting at a Brooklyn hospital where two cops were taken after being shot in their patrol car by a gunman officials say was seeking revenge for the deaths of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., and Eric Garner in Staten Island.

"I don’t support that particular activity," Bratton said on NBC's "Today" show Monday. "I don't think it was appropriate, particularly in that setting, but it's reflective of the anger of some of them."

The city's top cop said it's clear Mayor Bill de Blasio has lost the trust of "some officers" amid heightened tensions between city hall and the police union, whose leader, Patrick Lynch, blasted de Blasio after the shootings.

“There is blood on many hands, from those that incited violence under the guise of protest to try to tear down what police officers do every day,” Lynch, the head of the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association, told reporters after de Blasio spoke Saturday night. “That blood on the hands starts on the steps of city hall in the office of the mayor.”

On "Today," Bratton was asked if de Blasio's response to Garner's killing had increased the threat of violence against the city's police officers.

"I don't believe that at all," Bratton said. "I've spent a lot of time with [Mayor de Blasio]. I have received this year over $400 million outside of my normal budget to improve our training, to improve our facilities, to acquire technology."

On Sunday, de Blasio and Bratton attended a mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral led by Cardinal Timothy Dolan, who urged people to pray for the families of the victims, the NYPD, and the mayor.

After the service, de Blasio skipped a press conference near the church and made no other public appearances Sunday. According to the New York Post, Bratton visited the scene of the attack in Brooklyn while New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo met with the family of Rafael Ramos, one of the two slain cops, at their Brooklyn home.

Earlier Sunday, former New York City Police Commissioner Ray Kelly placed the blame on de Blasio for fanning the flames of antipolice anger during the protests following Garner's death.

"I think when the mayor made statements about that he had to train his son — who is biracial — to be careful when he's dealing with the police, I think that set off this latest firestorm," Kelly said on ABC's "This Week with George Stephanopoulos." "And, quite frankly, the mayor ran an antipolice campaign last year when he ran for mayor."

“I think it goes too far to blame the mayor for the murder," former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani said on Fox News. "But I don’t think it goes too far to say that the mayor did not properly police the protests.”

Giuliani criticized President Barack Obama for embracing the protests.

“We’ve had four months of propaganda starting with the president that everybody should hate the police,” Giuliani said. “The protests are being embraced, the protests are being encouraged. The protests, even the ones that don’t lead to violence, a lot of them lead to violence, all of them lead to a conclusion. The police are bad, the police are racist. That is completely wrong.”

New York Rep. Peter King agreed.

"It’s really time for our national leaders, the president, the mayor of New York and really for many in the media, to stop the cop-bashing, to stop this antipolice rhetoric,” King said on Fox News. “I mean, for the last four months, we’ve basically heard nothing other than the cops are guilty, presumed cops are guilty, then the grand jury says they’re not going to be indicted. People demonstrate, march in the streets, and it’s so slanted.”