"NYPD [is] setting up barricades here… expecting thousands for Officer [Rafael] Ramos' wake this afternoon," Mark Santia, a Channel 4 reporter, said in his social media account.
Ramos, along with fellow police officer Wenjian Liu, was shot while inside his patrol car on December 20. The gunman, 28-year-old Ismaayil Brinsley, took his life shortly after.
While police are preparing for a new wave of protests, opponents of New York Mayor Bill de Blasio have taken their criticism to new heights as a plane with a banner reading "de Blasio, our backs have turned to you" has been seen flying over the Hudson River.
De Blasio has been subject to much criticism in recent weeks, as he is seen by many officers to have encouraged the anti-law enforcement sentiment that led to the policemen's murders.
On Thursday, police officers, religious leaders and citizens gathered at the scene of the shooting in Brooklyn to express support for Officers Ramos and Liu and solidarity with police in general.
In recent weeks, the United States has seen a series of protests against police brutality, fueled by recent grand jury decisions not to indict white police officers responsible for the deaths of unarmed African-Americans over the past several months.
Ahead of Ramos and Liu's shooting, Brinsley, an African-American, expressed his intention to exact revenge for the murders of Eric Garner and Michael Brown. According to the NYPD, the gunman had a long history of arrests and mental instability.
