I think the family normally would have veto power, if they didn’t want a public funeral. But in this case, the police made it a big thing because they were hitting back at the race-baiters and politicians who tried to depict the officer as another white male racist killer—and fortunately failed.
The race-baiters and the mayor, among others, tried to blacken his name, so his fellow police decided to rescue his reputation. Otherwise it’s doubtful the funeral would have been so big.
I’m glad this was made into a big deal. The country still pays a lot of attention to what happens in New York City. We needed to stop, survey the damage done, and take this very seriously. Even Joe Biden seemed to be awake and paying attention. I don’t recall him publicly saying anything (too) stupid during the Memorial Service.
Jet Blue Airlines gave two free round trip tickets to police/sheriffs across the nation for each flight to NYC. That allowed many to attend who could never have afforded to come.
The protestors and anarchists are the ones who created a need for such a large display of unified cops. This is more than a statement to de Blasio, it’s a statement to those who have decided to declare was on NYPD, and every other police department in USA.
The type of murder, the cause, and the political fervor against police created this huge funeral. The family is just swept away in the magnitude of this whole assassination, and they are Christian, so we see a major event.
The Lei family’s loss, and the officer’s funeral is going to be different, as his parents are coming from China. He was only married a couple of months, no children I know of. So probably a more humble affair. I was surprised they didn’t send him back to his homeland for burial, but maybe he and his new wife made their own arrangements.