Former President Donald Trump expressed his condolences for the family of a slain police officer and called to restore “law and order” on Thursday.
Trump attended the wake of NYPD Officer Jonathan Diller on Thursday and met with people close to the slain police officer, including his widow and 1-year-old son. Diller was killed on Monday during a traffic stop in Far Rockaway, Queens.
“What happened is 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, we just can’t,” Trump said in brief remarks at the funeral. “But the Diller family will, you’ll never be the same, you can never be the same, but we have to stop it, we have to stop it. We have to get back to law and order. We have to do a lot of things differently because this is not working. This is happening too often.”
Trump noted that the Queens man accused of murdering Diller, 34-year-old Guy Rivera, had a lengthy history of run-ins with the police before Monday’s fatal shooting. Rivera had at least 21 prior arrests. Rivera has been charged with first degree murder and attempted murder related to Monday’s shooting.
“This is such a sad occasion. The only thing we can say is maybe something is going to be learned. We’ve got to strengthen it up, we’ve got to toughen it up,” Trump said.
BREAKING: Trump at the wake for NYPD Officer Jonathan Diller: "We have to get back to law and order." WATCH pic.twitter.com/60PnCHiMMP
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Rivera sat in the passenger seat of a parked car in Far Rockaway on Monday when Diller repeatedly instructed Rivera to exit the vehicle. Rivera ignored the order, pulled a gun, and shot Diller, the bullet hitting the officer just below his protective vest, according to prosecutors. Diller’s partner, Veckash Khedna, shot Rivera in the back.
Diller was taken to Jamaica Hospital where he died. Rivera is undergoing treatment at the same hospital.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams said during a press conference on Tuesday following Diller’s death that repeated crimes committed by “dangerous people” is a significant problem in the city.
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“We’ve been talking about the severe recidivism of dangerous people over and over again and how do we stop them from coming into our streets,” Adams said. “There’s a total disregard. They could care less when they discharged that gun if they shot a cop or if they shot someone that was at Selvena Brooks‑Powers’ office, who was the councilperson that it happens right near her office. Just a total disregard.”
“These are bad people who are doing bad things to good people. It’s the good guys against the bad guys. And we have to recognize that,” he added.