Biden to Attend Funeral of Slain NYPD Officer

Vice President Joe Biden will be attending the funeral of one of the New York City police officers gunned down over the weekend, a White House spokesman said Tuesday.

“The president has asked Vice President Biden to attend the service for Officer Rafael Ramos and is grateful that the vice president and Dr. Jill Biden will be traveling to New York City to attend the service on Saturday,” White House spokesman Eric Schultz said in a statement.

Ramos' funeral is scheduled for Dec. 27. He and his partner, Wenjian Liu, were shot in their patrol car on Saturday by Ismaaiyl Brinsley, who had written online about putting "wings on pigs" following recent grand jury decisions not to indict the police officers in the deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner.

Obama is vacationing in Hawaii, and is not scheduled to return until Jan. 4.