There’s nothing like a tragic police shooting to bring a guffaw out of Rep. Charlie Rangel.
Speaking yesterday at a rally in honor of slain cop Omar Edwards at Rev. Al Sharpton’s National Action Network Headquarters, the embattled congressman quipped that President Obama, in town for a date with First Lady Michelle, should watch his back because of the color of his skin.
“If [he] did not have the Secret Service . . . around him, [city cops] wouldn’t know if he was president of the United States,” Rangel said.
The remark brought raucous cheers and laughter from the crowd of around 100.
Rangel wasn’t the only official slamming the fact that Edwards, who is black, was shot by a white officer.
“First we couldn’t ‘drive while black,’ now we can’t ‘police while black,’ ” said Brooklyn City Councilman Charles Barron.
Sharpton then led the protesters in a march from West 145th Street to the scene of the shooting at East 125th Street and Second Avenue, where a moment of silence was observed.
SLAIN OFFICER’S TRAGIC MISTAKE
‘DEVASTATED’ OVER KILLING A BROTHER
CLEAR REGULATIONS TO AVOID DEADLY CONFRONTATIONS
EX-OFFICER SHOT IN ’95: RETRAINING IS NEEDED