His name was Jonathan Diller. He was a police officer with the New York City Police Department. He was 31 years old. He did not have to die, as the man who allegedly shot and killed him should have been in a jail cell.
While doing a routine traffic stop in Queens, New York, Officer Diller was shot in the stomach—the bullet entered just below his ballistic vest. The suspect arrested for the shooting is named Guy Rivera, a known criminal who had at least 21 prior arrests, but who had been released over and over again thanks to New York City’s “bail-reform” laws.
Another officer shot back and wounded Rivera.
Later, after he was arrested, Rivera was found to have a shiv hidden in his rectum—he apparently had the knife in his butt just in case he was arrested, so he’d have a weapon in jail.
Meanwhile, an ex-con named Lindy Jones was behind the wheel of the car during the shooting. He was also arrested after a second gun was found in the car Officer Diller had approached.
This horrid scene might have faded into a statistic that gun-control promoting politicians in the state often use as an excuse to further restrict the freedom of law-abiding citizens, but this story didn’t end there.
Officer Diller was the maried father of a one-year-old boy. A heart-wrenching photo of his one-year-old son reaching for his casket while in his mother’s arms would make the newspapers and nightly news.
“How many more police officers and how many more families have to make the ultimate sacrifice before we start protecting them?” said Stephanie Diller, 29, during her tearful eulogy for her husband inside St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church in Massapequa, New York.
A day before, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D), whose “woke” policies are entangled in this tragedy, showed at Diller’s wake. Media reports vary, and Hochul denies being kicked out of the wake, but it is clear she was not welcome and soon left. The New York Post reported that Gov. Hochul explained that she “understands” why Diller’s family is “outraged.”
Meanwhile, President Joe Biden (D) came to town. He was in New York City for a campaign fundraiser. But he didn’t go anywhere near Diller’s funeral or wake. Instead, he stayed with the uber elite in a Midtown hotel before attending his fundraiser. Biden opted to record a podcast that afternoon with former Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton and actors Will Arnett, Jason Bateman and Sean Hayes, instead of attending Diller’s funeral.
In contrast, former President Donald J. Trump (R) did fly in for Diller’s funeral.
“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,” said Trump. “We need law and order.”
Later, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters on Air Force One that Biden did speak with New York Mayor Eric Adams (D) by phone to express his condolences for Diller’s death. “Our hearts go out, obviously, to the officer’s family and the broader NYPD family who have tragically lost one of their own. The president grieves for them and
honors their sacrifice,” said Jean-Pierre.
Actually, Biden’s appearance on the podcast and then at a fundraiser just miles away from Diller’s casket didn’t make Biden’s “grieving” obvious at all.
It is always regrettable to tell a tragic tale of a fallen officer—or of any innocent citizen—in the context of a political narrative, but the callousness of this one needs to be told with all of the details completely and often.
