Families Of Slain NYPD Officers Receive $1 Million Check From Anonymous Hong Kong Benefactor

The families of slain New York Police Department detectives Wenjian Liu and Rafael Ramos accepted a check for $1 million Friday night. The families -- including Liu’s father on one side and Ramos’ widow and two sons on the other side -- came together at the Detectives’ Endowment Association headquarters to receive the gift of an anonymous donor in Hong Kong, the Associated Press reported (via Newsday).

Liu’s father, Wei Tang Liu, will be given $100,000 a year for five years, while Ramos’ two sons will have $500,000 put into an educational fund. The New York Daily News reported their anonymous benefactor approached the Chinese daily newspaper Sing Tao to propose the gift, which will be managed by the police union’s widows-and-children’s fund.

Sing Tao CEO Robin Mui told the New York Post the donor had been moved by the families’ plight. “He’s just a wealthy entrepreneur in Hong Kong who doesn’t want his name to be published,” Mui told the New York newspaper.

Wei Tang Liu spoke at the ceremony, offering thanks for the gift. “He’s just always expressing gratitude towards everyone for how much they have taken care of him and his whole family,” U.S. Rep. Grace Meng, D-N.Y., told the Daily News about Wei Tang Liu. “He repeatedly, every time I speak to him, reminds us that Officer Liu was his one and only son. One and only child. And so obviously he is very heartbroken,” Meng said.

The two officers were shot and killed in Brooklyn last month in an “ambush-style” attack by Ismaaiyl Brinsley, who had a history of mental illness and numerous arrests. Brinsley, who had posted on social media that he planned to attack police, fled to a nearby subway station after shooting the officers and committed suicide.

“In every tragedy, there are individuals who step forward, step up to the plate,” said union president Michael Palladino, according to the Daily News.

Active and retired police will take part in a benefit on Staten Island for the families Saturday night, the New York Post reported.