The New York City Council speaker delivered a message Tuesday in support of NYPD officers and denouncing the recent violence against them.

At a news conference at New York City Hall in Manhattan, Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito expressed condolences to the families of officers Rafael Ramos, 40, and Wenjian Liu, 32, who were slain Saturday as they sat in their patrol car in Bedford-Stuyvesant.

Mark-Viverito called the attack by gunman Ismaaiyl Brinsley, who then fatally shot himself, an "outrageous ambush."

"We unequivocally support, appreciate and value our police officers. We condemn any and all violence against them," said Mark-Viverito. "We must end hateful and divisive rhetoric which seeks to dehumanize officers."

Brooklyn Councilman Vincent Gentile then spoke, asking people to display blue lights in their windows in support of the NYPD. He also said that council members had been visiting their local precincts as a show of support.

Mark-Viverito asked for anti-NYPD protests to stop, at least for the time being, out of respect for the victims' families.