Trump attends slain NYPD officer Jonathan Diller's wake: 'Need law and order'
Former President Donald Trump attended the wake of slain NYPD officer Jonathan Diller on Thursday afternoon at a Massapequa Park funeral home, while calling for law and order.
"Such a sad, sad event. Such a horrible thing. And it's happening all too often and we're just not going to let it happen," Trump said.
"We need law and order," he added.
Diller was fatally shot on Monday during a traffic stop in Queens after a man with 21 prior arrests allegedly shot him in the stomach as Diller was trying to get the suspect, Guy Rivera, 34, to exit the vehicle. Rivera opened fire on Diller and his partner at about 5:45 p.m. Monday. The officers approached the vehicle because it was illegally parked at a bus stop.
Diller was 31 years old and lived in Massapequa Park with his wife and nearly 1-year-old son, Fox News Digital previously reported. He had served three years with the NYPD before his death.
The Trump campaign first announced Wednesday that the 45th president would attend the wake. New York City Mayor Eric Adams was anticipated to also attend the wake following Trump.
"President Trump is moved by the invitation to join NYPD Officer Jonathan Diller's family and colleagues as they deal with his senseless and tragic death," Karoline Leavitt, the campaign's spokeswoman, said.
Trump has railed against cities' crime rates under the Biden administration, including last month in remarks at the Conservative Political Action Conference.
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"Four years ago, I told you that if crooked Joe Biden got to the White House, our borders would be abolished, our middle class would be decimated and our communities would be plagued by bloodshed, chaos and violent crime," Trump said last month. "We were right about everything."
He told the New York Post in a recent interview that the "radical lunatic left" is ruining cities and preventing police officers from doing their jobs.
Rivera, who was sitting in the passenger's seat, was injured when the officers returned fire. He was charged with first degree murder of a police officer, attempted murder and criminal possession of a weapon in the case, police announced this week.
Another man who was in the vehicle at the time of Diller's death, Lindy Jones, was also charged following the death, including for criminal possession of a weapon and defacing a weapon.
"We just can't 21 times arrested this thug. And the person in the car with him was arrested many times and they don't learn because they don't respect. … And this should never happen. I just visited with a very beautiful wife that now doesn't have her husband. Stephanie was just incredible. Their child, brand new, beautiful, baby. Sitting there innocent," Trump said Thursday.
Leavitt, in a message posted to her X account on Thursday, highlighted that President Biden "will be at a fancy fundraiser with [former Presidents] Obama and Clinton" during the wake.
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White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Thursday that President Biden had spoken with Adams about the death, adding she did not have "private communications to share" regarding whether Biden had spoken to Diller's family.
Diller will be laid to rest Saturday in Massapequa.