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Wilbert Mora, Jason Rivera among 6 NYPD, FDNY awarded Medal of Valor
By
Jesse O’Neill
May 17, 2023 10:30am
President Joe Biden speaks during a Medal of Valor ceremony in the East Room of the White House, Wednesday, May 17, 2023, in Washington.AP
Detectives Wilbert Mora and Jason Rivera were shot on Jan. 21, 2022 by 47-year-old Lashawn McNeil while responding to a domestic call in an East Harlem apartment.
Rivera, 22, had been on the job for less than a year. Mora, 27, was a four-year veteran of New York’s Finest.
“Our nation is forever in debt to their loved ones and the sacrifice they made on behalf of their fellow citizens,” Biden said before presenting the medals to Mora’s mother and Rivera’s widow.
The president had previously honored the slain officers during his State of The Union address last year in response to calls from left-wing Democrats to “Defund the police.”
Biden also met with the families of Mora and Rivera when he visited the Big Apple last year.
NYPD Officers Wilbert Mora, left, and Jason Rivera were killed in a 2022 ambush. The officers were posthumously promoted to detective.AP
Detective Sumit Sulan, who fatally shot McNeil, was also presented with the Medal of Valor, the nation’s top honor for public safety officers.
“The entire nation is grateful for the quick thinking and swift action and courage under fire that he demonstrated,” Biden said before placing the medal around Sulan’s neck.
FDNY Lt. Justin Hespeler, firefighter Patrick Thornton and retired Lt. Jason Hickey were also honored at the White House Wednesday.
Hespeler rescued a newborn baby from a burning house; Thornton saved a man trapped under a capsized vessel off the coast of Staten Island and Hickey saved a man from drowning in the Harlem River.
Three others received the honor from Biden: a Houston police officer, a Colorado police officer and a Ohio sheriff’s deputy.
By
Jesse O’Neill
May 17, 2023 10:30am
President Joe Biden speaks during a Medal of Valor ceremony in the East Room of the White House, Wednesday, May 17, 2023, in Washington.AP
Detectives Wilbert Mora and Jason Rivera were shot on Jan. 21, 2022 by 47-year-old Lashawn McNeil while responding to a domestic call in an East Harlem apartment.
Rivera, 22, had been on the job for less than a year. Mora, 27, was a four-year veteran of New York’s Finest.
“Our nation is forever in debt to their loved ones and the sacrifice they made on behalf of their fellow citizens,” Biden said before presenting the medals to Mora’s mother and Rivera’s widow.
The president had previously honored the slain officers during his State of The Union address last year in response to calls from left-wing Democrats to “Defund the police.”
Biden also met with the families of Mora and Rivera when he visited the Big Apple last year.
NYPD Officers Wilbert Mora, left, and Jason Rivera were killed in a 2022 ambush. The officers were posthumously promoted to detective.AP
Detective Sumit Sulan, who fatally shot McNeil, was also presented with the Medal of Valor, the nation’s top honor for public safety officers.
“The entire nation is grateful for the quick thinking and swift action and courage under fire that he demonstrated,” Biden said before placing the medal around Sulan’s neck.
FDNY Lt. Justin Hespeler, firefighter Patrick Thornton and retired Lt. Jason Hickey were also honored at the White House Wednesday.
Hespeler rescued a newborn baby from a burning house; Thornton saved a man trapped under a capsized vessel off the coast of Staten Island and Hickey saved a man from drowning in the Harlem River.
Three others received the honor from Biden: a Houston police officer, a Colorado police officer and a Ohio sheriff’s deputy.