NEW YORK: Tens of thousands of police and other mourners filled a New York City church and surrounding streets for the funeral on Saturday of one of two police officers ambushed by a gunman who said he was avenging the killing of unarmed black men by police.

Singled out for their uniforms, the deaths of Rafael Ramos and his partner Wenjian Liu have become a rallying point for police and their supporters around the country, beleaguered by months of street rallies by protesters who say police practices are marked by racism.

“Your husband, and his partner, they were a part of New York’s finest, and that’s not an idle phrase,” US Vice President Joe Biden said, addressing Ramos’s widow, Maritza, at the start of the service.