US Attorney General Pam Bondi on Friday celebrated the “brightest of the brightest” NYPD heroes who helped stop the two allegedly ISIS-inspired wannabe bombers outside of Gracie Mansion.
Bondi honored all nine officers who chased down the botched bombers, including NYPD Chief Aaron Edwards, who went viral for hurdling over a fence to stop the criminals in their tracks.
“Thank you, NYPD. You are the finest, you are the bravest,” Bondi told the officers from NYPD HQ at One Police Plaza.
“You have a very difficult job in the world in which we live. That day — I get chills when I think about it,” she continued, adding that FBI, DEA and other agencies “love” the NYPD.
“We couldn’t do it, obviously, without you,” she said.
“You are the best of the best, the brightest of the brightest.”
“We cannot thank you enough. You epitomize this award. Had you not stopped those guys that day, they would have done it again. We all know they wanted to be the Boston bomber, but bigger.”
Bondi honored the hero cops as part of her effort to recognize the efforts of law enforcement officers across the country — especially when in the face of danger.
Edwards, along with Sgt. Luis Navarro, drew acclaim on social media after they were captured in dramatic pictures heroically jumping into action despite a homemade bomb landing at their feet during the March 7 mayhem on the Upper East Side.
The pair were on duty outside the mayor’s mansion during a rowdy anti-Muslim rally and counter-protest when two alleged radicalized maniacs from Pennsylvania — Emir Balat, 18, and Ibrahim Kayumi, 19 — tossed homemade bombs in the crowd.
The improvised explosive devices did not detonate and no one was injured.
Both Balat and Kayumi were arrested and are being held by the feds on terror charges.
